The Boston Globe has reported that Freight Farms has raised a $3.7 million Series B round from Spark Capital to continue building out its farm in a box system. Launch Capital, an investor in their $1.2 million Series A, also participated.
Boston-based Freight Farms was founded by Jon Friedman and Brad McNamara back in 2010 as a rooftop greenhouse company before pivoting to the shipping container model. Freight Farms sells their fully outfitted 40′ x 8′ x 9.5′ containers for $76,000, which the company says is equipped to handle every aspect of commercial production 365 days a year from seed to harvest. Users can stay connected with their farmhand app which provides information such as temperature, humidity, CO2 levels, pH, water, nutrient levels, and live video feed inside the container. The app also lets users set parameters to change the growing conditions.
The Boston Globe article quotes Freight Farms Chief Executive saying that the funding will help the company accelerate its expansion and release “some new products to help our farmers be more successful.” and that customers include mainstream food corporations, conference centers and hotels, and schools such Boston Latin high school, and local burger joint Tasty Burger.
Freight Farms is not alone in the space. Direct competitors in the space space include Atlanta-based PodPonics which raised $3.4 million back in June and another Boston-based company called AquaHarvest.
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