Investors' Growing Interest In Vertical Farms
These kitchen gardens are increasingly
interesting for retailers and investors alike.
These systems could indeed solve several problems.
Starting with the challenge of feeding 9 billion people by 2050 while
preserving the planet.
One of the advantages of vertical farms is that they no longer exploit farmland, which is already over-stretched in the current food system. Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP
By Helene Gully
June 6, 2019
With 100 million dollars raised during a new fundraising, the German start-up Infarm will be able to continue its conquest of major cities. Young sprout specializing in vertical farms, Infarm offers its customers the rental of kitchen gardens to enjoy fresh produce all year round.
As a result, the German nugget raised a total of $ 134 million, including a European grant of $ 2.5 million. Its portfolio already has dozens of clients, including 25 retailers such as Casino, Intermarché, but also Metro and Amazon Fresh in Europe. This makes Infarm one of the prodigious children of this emerging and growing industry.
The principle of vertical farms is to grow plants indoors, without using pesticides and consuming as little water as possible - in general, they use 95% less water than their conventional counterparts. At Infarm, for example, the earth is replaced by coconut fiber, immersed in water saturated with nutrients and mineral salts, and the sun with LED lighting.
Multiplication of investments
These systems are attracting increasing interest from investors since they could solve several problems. Starting with the challenge of feeding 9 billion people by 2050 while preserving the planet. One of the advantages of vertical farms is that they no longer exploit farmland, which is already over-stretched in the current food system. But also to be able to cultivate locally and market fresh produce.
"With this technology, we can grow in different places, creating and maintaining an ideal environment for any plant to grow," Osnat Michaeli, one of Infarm's founders, told Echoes. last November. And these indoor farms can be installed anywhere in the city, an invaluable asset at a time when in all major cities, space is becoming scarce.
The Farm.one start-up cultivates its plants in a New York winery
InFarm is of course not the only one to have positioned itself on the sector. This week, the British online retail chain Ocado, which delivers Marks & Spencer products, among others, took a majority share of 58% in "Jones Foods", the largest vertical farm in Europe. The ambition: to provide fresh products to its customers in less than an hour.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the young Californian nugget, Plenty, raised $ 200 million during a roundtable led by SoftBank. Another start-up, Bowery Farming, was able to seduce Google's parent company, Alphabet, and Uber Dara Khosrowshahi's boss, who injected $ 90 million into his business.
Hélène Gully