Palo Alto, November 1, 2018

Click & Grow, the leading producer of smart indoor gardens, closed its latest financing round led by Estonian-based United Angels VC alongside two strategic investors: Ingka Group, the world’s largest home furnishing retailer operating 367 IKEA stores, and SEB Alliance, the corporate venture arm of French Groupe SEB. This is the most significant round Click & Grow has raised so far. The aim of the round was to expand and accelerate Click & Grow’s worldwide presence and further popularize hyper-local gardening. Y Combinator and Yunqi VC also participated in the round.

Click & Grow’s breakthrough technology enables plants to be grown hyper-locally with zero effort, giving everyone a chance to grow fresh, GMO and pesticide-free greens at home or in any other space. Founded in 2009, Click and Grow has achieved a global presence and is now selling its third-generation smart gardens. The company’s largest market is in the US, followed by the EU and Singapore.

“Being one of the pioneers of hyperlocal gardening, we have been the drivers behind smart indoor gardens earning their rightful place among kitchen tools. Now we are working towards our next milestone to see how hyper-local farming can have a lasting impact on the sustainability of our food chain and reduce food waste. We couldn’t think of having better partners onboard to help us along the way than Ingka Group, with their commitment to a people and planet-positive future, and Groupe SEB, the world’s leader in small household equipment,” said Mattias Lepp, Founder, and CEO of Click & Grow.

The company’s strategy tackles one of the world’s major current issues, availability and affordability of the global food supply. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), approximately one-third of all food produced in the world is lost or wasted, including about 45% of all fruits and vegetables. Hyper-local farming allows us to cut the supply chain to a minimum.

“This investment is part of Ingka Group’s broader commitment to support innovative companies contributing to a more sustainable and healthy food and we believe Click & Grow’s novel approach has great potential. We see this as another step forward in our journey to serve IKEA customers and our co-workers healthier and more nutritious food, and it opens up new opportunities for IKEA Retail markets to become more self-sufficient by growing fresh local produce,” explained Krister Mattsson, Head of Investments, Ingka Group

To accelerate the expansion of Click and Grow's global foothold and to strengthen the position in Europe, this July Groupe SEB (active in 150 countries with brands such as Krups, Rowenta and Tefal) became a co-branding and distributor partner of Click & Grow in the French and DACH markets.

“We see indoor gardening becoming a promising trend for home/office. We are convinced by the leading edge of Click and Grow products and technology in this domain. We strongly believe in our capacity to help the company in its future development on the base of co-branding with EMSA and leveraging our worldwide presence” said François-Xavier Meyer, Vice President SEB Alliance, Groupe SEB

About Click & Grow

Click & Grow was founded by Mattias Lepp in 2009 and has shipped its products to more than 450,000 customers around the world. Click & Grow is headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia. For more information, visit clickandgrow.com.

About the Ingka Group

Ingka Group (Ingka Holding B.V. and its controlled entities) is one of 11 different groups of companies that own and operate IKEA sales channels under franchise agreements with Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Ingka Group has three business areas: IKEA Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centres. It is the world’s largest home furnishing retailer operating 367 IKEA stores in 30 markets. These IKEA stores had 838 million visits during FY18 and 2.35 billion visits to www.IKEA.com. Ingka Group operates business under the IKEA vision to create a better everyday life for many people by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.

About SEB Alliance

SEB Alliance is the corporate venture capital arm of Groupe SEB, the world leader in small domestic equipment. SEB Alliance prioritizes minority stake investments in innovative companies with high technological content operating in areas such as smart systems/connectivity & robotics, new forms of energy, aging population, preserving health, beauty and wellbeing, ecology and sustainable development. www.seballiance.com

About United Angels VC

United Angels VC is an early stage VC fund based in Estonia. It invests throughout the software stack and related areas. The fund and its partner’s portfolio include some of the fastest growing companies originating from Northern-Europe, such as Taxify, Monese, and Veriff. The fund’s food tech portfolio includes Click & Grow, Epic Foods, eAgronom, and FoodDocs.  www.unitedangels.vc