Tag: vertical farming

Bowery’s strawberry bot buyout

February 24, 2022

Bowery announced its acquisition of robotics startup Traptic last week. Here, AFN analyzes the deal and what it means for the wider indoor ag space.

Vertical farming operator Kalera pursues SPAC listing at $375m valuation

February 1, 2022

The deal with Nasdaq-listed SPAC Agrico Acquisition Corp is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.

Plenty raises $400m from Walmart, others in vertical farming’s largest funding to date

January 25, 2022

A strategic partnership with Walmart includes putting Plenty’s vertically-grown greens on Californian store shelves this year.

Q&A: Upward Farms wants to attract more microbes to vertical ag environments

January 24, 2022

Co-founder and CEO Jason Green discusses its new 250,000-square-foot facility and the importance of the microbiome.

Bowery’s KKR-led $150m credit facility may hint at robust business model, industry inflection point

January 20, 2022

The timing of KKR’s vote of confidence is particularly interesting as concerns mount about the future of some vertical farms, but Bowery CEO Irving Fain says it’s a positive inflection point for the industry.

Meet the founder: Dream Harvest’s Zain Shauk thinks vertically farmed crops ‘make business sense’

December 28, 2021

Focusing on higher yields instead of novel technologies will make vertical farming more productive, he tells AFN.

Brief: Infarm raises $200m Series D from Qatar sovereign fund, others at $1bn+ valuation

December 16, 2021

Infarm is doubling down on its Growing Centres with a target to have 100 across 20 countries by 2030. The Qatar Investment Authority will work with it to build the emirate’s first Growing Centre by 2023.

Vertical farming is headed for the ‘trough of disillusionment.’ Here’s why that’s a good thing

December 14, 2021

Vertical farming is facing a period of depression and correction as big farms struggle to pay investors back while running complex and expensive operations. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, writes Henry Gordon-Smith.

Data Snapshot: H1 investment trend suggests CEA scene may be losing steam

December 8, 2021

Novel Farming Systems ventures – which include tech-enabled vertical farms and greenhouses – may be losing their luster for investors.

Better tracking of water, energy use needed to avoid greenwashing – CEA census

December 2, 2021

Better tracking around waste, water, and energy usage could help the CEA industry more accurately measure the sustainability of their operations.

Data Snapshot: Bowery’s $300m round tops H1 2021 Novel Farming Systems deals

November 10, 2021

Novel Farming Systems ventures raised a total of $911 million in funding during the first six months of the year, according to AgFunder data.

IGS banks $58m to cement its place as the John Deere of vertical farming

November 4, 2021

“We’ve spent the money to take the R&D risk away” for vertical farm operators, IGS’s David Farquhar says on the sidelines of COP26.

Freshly funded AgroUrbana could bring more sustainable vertical farming to Latin America

November 2, 2021

The Chilean startup is building what it says is Latin America’s first large-scale sustainable vertical farming plant, powered completely by renewables.

UAE indoor farmer Pure Harvest nets $65m to fund Asia expansion

October 28, 2021

The Abu Dhabi-based company will add over 100 crops to its portfolio, as well as new CEA technologies, through its collaboration with PlanTFarm.

Brief: AeroFarms & Spring Valley terminate $1.2bn SPAC deal

October 18, 2021

David Rosenberg, the vertical ag company’s CEO, said that “proceeding with this transaction is not in the best interests of our shareholders.”

South Korean indoor ag startup N.Thing nets $26m Series B funding

October 4, 2021

N.Thing said the funds will go towards worldwide commercialization of CUBE, its modular, software-powered vertical farming system.

Novel Farming Systems top funded startups 2020

Data Snapshot: Insect ranches, vertical ag among 2020’s top-funded ‘Novel Farming’ startups

August 26, 2021

Novel Farming Systems – which includes CEA, aquaculture, and insect production – was the second best-funded agtech category last year, according to AgFunder.

Brief: Kalera agrees $153m deal to acquire &ever in vertical farming combo

August 12, 2021

Kalera will instantly expand its global presence by acquiring &ever, which operates vertical farms across Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.