Infarm raises $170M during pandemic to grow largest urban vertical farming network in the world

SEP 17, 2020

Infarm, the world’s fastest-growing urban farming network announced $170 million investment raised in the first close of a Series C funding round expected to reach $200 million.

Led by LGT Lightstone, the first round included participation by investors Hanaco, Bonnier, Haniel, and Latitude and was supported by existing Infarm investors. 

Founded in Berlin in 2013 by Osnat Michaeli and the brothers Erez and Guy Galonska, Infarm is dedicated to creating a future where local super fresh produce is available for everyone. The farms are placed in various locations in the city, like supermarkets, restaurants and distribution centres, so that vegetables grow and are harvested close to the moment of purchase or consumption.

These controlled, growing environments are connected to a central cloud-based farm-brain which gathers more than 50,000 data points through a plant’s lifetime, allowing the platform to learn, adapt and improve itself constantly so every plant grows better than the one before. This modular, data-driven, and distributed approach sets Infarm apart from any other urban, farming solution.

Balderton led Infarm's Series A in 2018. Read our Partner, Daniel Waterhouse's original blog post here on why we initially invested.

You can also watch Daniel in conversation with Co-founder and CEO of Infarm,  Erez Galonska, at the Balderton Collective CEO Retreat in 2018 below.

Daniel Waterhouse talks to Erez Galonska of Infarm at the 2018 Balderton Collective CEO Retreat.

The fresh capital infusion brings Infarm’s total funding to date to more than $300 million, underscoring consumer and retailer appetite for Infarm’s innovative approach to fresh, sustainable and local food production in the wake of this year’s pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic has put a global spotlight on the urgent agricultural and ecological challenges of our time. At Infarm, we believe there’s a better, healthier way to feed our cities: increasing access to fresh, pure, sustainable produce, grown as close as possible to people.

Erez Galonska, Co-founder and CEO of Infarm

The investment will be used to deepen the regional and local penetration of Infarm’s global farming network and complete development of Infarm’s new generation of vertical cloud-connected farms, capable of generating the crop-equivalent of acres of farmland and amplifying the diversity of produce currently available through vertical farming. An integration of advanced engineering, software and farming technology, these farms will save labour, land, water, energy, and food-miles, while contributing to a more sustainable food system

As we scale to 5,000,000 sq. ft in farming facilities across Europe, North American and Asia by 2025, this investment will help us make a truly global impact through our network, preserving the thousands of acres of land, millions of litres of water and ultimately change the way people grow, eat and think about food.

Erez Galonska, Co-founder and CEO of Infarm

Infarm units can be found in some of the world’s largest retailers

In the past 12 months alone, Infarm has formed new partnerships with the world’s largest retailers, including, Aldi Süd (Germany), Kroger (United States), Marks & Spencer and Selfridges (United Kingdom).

With operations across 10 countries and 30 cities worldwide, Infarm harvests 500,000+ plants monthly and growing while using 99.5% less space than soil-based agriculture, 95% less water, 90% less transport and zero chemical pesticides. Today, 90% of electricity use throughout the Infarm network is from renewable energy and the company has set a target to reach zero emission food production next year.

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