Agritecture Partners With Mainvest To Democratize Urban Agriculture Financing

Boston, Massachusetts, February 16, 2021​ - Agritecture, LLC, an urban farming consulting and digital services firm, announced it has partnered with Mainvest, a small business investment platform that connects local entrepreneurs with investors who care.

The two companies will work together to accelerate the urban farming and controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry across the country by offering new entrepreneurs a more accessible way to raise capital for small-scale or pilot facilities. ​Research​ has shown that urban agriculture provides a range of crucial ecosystem services valued at $33+ billion.

“We’ve seen a great deal of success in the F&B industry fueled by a need for alternative sources of capital and demand from community members for tangible ways to support local brands,” stated Nicholas Mathews, Mainvest CEO and Co-Founder. “As sustainable investment becomes mainstream and urban farming projects increase, we see a niche for our services further up in the local food supply chain. We’re excited to connect innovative entrepreneurs in the urban agriculture sector with retail investors across experience and income levels looking to get involved in a growing industry. We’re excited to partner with Agritecture on empowering the industry to raise capital on more favorable terms with the support of active and engaged communities.”

In 2020, the USDA offered the availability of only $3M in ​grants​ for urban agriculture and innovative production to just 10 projects - despite receiving 578 applicants. While the CapEx, or startup cost, can vary widely for these projects, ​Agritecture notes that nearly 30% of controlled environment farms modeled via their ​Agritecture Designer​ digital platform have a CapEx of less than $250,000 - likely a pilot facility for an entrepreneur who wants to start small and learn before scaling up.

“Since our founding in 2014, we’ve seen sustained, year-over-year growth in interest toward urban agriculture, especially amongst industry newcomers,” said Henry Gordon-Smith, Founder and CEO of Agritecture.

This growth has only accelerated since the onset of the pandemic, according to the team at Agritecture, which reported nearly a 2x increase in website traffic since Q1 of 2020.

But despite increasing interest in urban agriculture, and record levels of funding for a handful of indoor mega-farms, financing continues to be a major pain point for small and medium-scale CEA businesses. “Through hundreds of consultations and economic models developed over the

past seven years, we know that these farms can achieve profitability with competitive payback periods, while still serving their local markets and communities,” noted Gordon-Smith.

Gordon-Smith cites Agritecture’s ​2019 and 2020 Global CEA Census Reports​, produced alongside agtech solutions provider Autogrow, which show that nearly half of all CEA facilities are being started by those with no previous farming experience. Furthermore, per their recent census, 78 percent of CEA business founders who attempted to raise money were unsuccessful in doing so through traditional financing sources, such as banks.

“By teaming up with Mainvest and their innovative financing platform, we can now deliver a direct link from our planning services and digital platform, Agritecture Designer, to critical funding opportunities for these pilot and small-scale facilities,” added Gordon-Smith.

About Agritecture

Agritecture, LLC is the global leader in urban agriculture advisory services, having worked on over 120 projects in more than 25 countries. Based out of New York, Agritecture is on a mission to empower key stakeholders and accelerate the agriculture industry with climate-smart strategies through a proven methodology, real-world data, and an expansive network.

For more information, please visit ​agritecture.com​.

About Mainvest

Mainvest is an online investment platform for building communities and the American Dream. At Mainvest, people can directly invest in businesses they want to see in their own neighborhoods, generating both potential ROI (return on investment) and ROC (return on community). Visit mainvest.com​ to see the potential impact you can have on a community you care about.

For more information, please visit ​mainvest.com/for-businesses/urban-ag​.

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For more information about Mainvest, please contact Domenick Bauer at domenick@mainvest.com​.

For more information about Agritecture, please contact Briana Zagami via email at briana@agritecture.com​.