Brief: Infarm tops up Series C to $270m; moves into chilis, mushrooms & tomatoes

• Berlin-based indoor ag startup Infarm has raised $100 million in additional funding on top of the $170 million it secured for the first close of its Series C round in September 2020, CEO Erez Galonska told Bloomberg.
• Existing backers Hanaco and Atomico were among the investors providing this latest injection of debt and equity financing, which brings the startup’s total funding to date to over $400 million.
• Infarm will use the capital to expand its team and diversify beyond salad greens and herbs to start growing chilis, mushrooms, and tomatoes, Galonska said. “We will be able to offer a more diverse basket — a premium basket — and hopefully change the way people eat and think food” to accelerate the shift to plant-based diets, he added.

Why it matters:

Berlin-based Infarm launched in 2013 with an initial focus on installing growing cabinets in supermarkets, restaurants, and other indoor spaces.

Last month, it unveiled a 25-square-meter modular growing center which it claims can produce the equivalent of up to 10,000-square-meters of farmland.

Infarm operates across 10 countries and counts major food retailers including Amazon, Kroger, Marks & Spencer, and Metro AG among its clients.

Despite excitement around recent agritech IPOs involving the likes of fellow indoor farmer AppHarvest and digital ag platform Farmers Edge, Galonska told Bloomberg that Infarm has no plans to go public anytime soon. However, he declined to comment on a report suggesting that the German startup is seeking as much as $250 million in fresh funding with the help of perennial IPO underwriter Goldman Sachs.

Dig into Infarm’s growth with our chief editor Louisa Burwood-Taylor and indoor ag veteran Henry Gordon-Smith on the Future Food podcast below, or on your favorite podcasting app.