Infarm, a Berlin, Germany-based urban farming company, raised $25m (€20m/£18m) in a Series A funding.
The round, which brings the total raised by Infarm to $35m (€24m/£21m), was led by Balderton Capital, with participation from TriplePoint Capital, and Mons Investments LLC, as well as previous investors Cherry Ventures, QUADIA and LocalGlobe.
The company plans to use the funds to grow the team into a global operation and to further develop its 5,000 sqm R&D centre in Berlin.
Founded in 2013 by Osnat Michaeli and the brothers Erez and Guy Galonska, Infarm combines IoT technologies and Data Science with smart modular farms delieved throughout the urban environment to grow fresh produce for the city’s inhabitants. The distributed farms are connected by a central farming platform, creating a urban farming network in which each farm is a controlled ecosystem with growing recipes that tailor light, temperature, pH, and nutrients to ensure the maximum natural expression of each plant.
The company can personalize its farms to each customer’s unique needs, growing different varieties for different supermarket locations or equalizing the flavour of the produce to suit the taste palate of a customer’s clientele.
Infarm is now operating more than 50 farms across Berlin in supermarket aisles, restaurants kitchens, and distribution warehouses. Infarm has integrated in-store farming into EDEKA and METRO locations, two of Germany’s largest food retailers, where it grows dozens of herbs and leafy greens, sold at affordable prices. The company plans to expand its farming services beyond Berlin and launch operations in Paris, London, Copenhagen, and other German cities later this year.
FinSMEs
05/02/2018