Lufa Farms, a Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based urban-farming enterprise that harvests fresh vegetables, herbs and fruits in rooftop greenhouses, has completed a $4.5m financing.
The round was led by Cycle Capital Management, with participation from Andrew Ferrier and the Kubo Greenhouse Project of the Netherlandsas well as the company’s founding team, which include CEO Mohamed Hage, Lauren Rathmell and Dave Furneaux.
In conjunction with the investment, Andrew Ferrier, former CEO of dairy producer Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd., will also join the company’s Board of Directors. In addition to the investment, KUBO has joined Lufa Farms to provide its technology as part of the the company’s North American expansion plans.
Lula Farms intends to use the proceeds for the construction of two additional facilities in the greater Montreal area as well as for expansion into Boston, New York, Chicago and Toronto.
Following the creation of a commercial-scale rooftop greenhouse farm in 2010 atop an office building in Montreal, the company started offering goods and locally grown produce directly to consumers who live and work near its sustainable urban farms.
In its first year of operation, the farm produced more than 250 tons of fresh produce grown using no herbicides, pesticides or fungicides.
FinSMEs
10/10/2012