Vertical farming platform Infarm raises $200 million, now at $1+ billion valuation

Berlin-founded indoor/vertical farming company Infarm has raised $200 million in a Series D round, now giving the startup a valuation of over $1 billion. The fresh capital will be used to support the company’s ongoing global growth strategy, with a particular emphasis on new market entries in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions. Including this round, Infarm has now propagated $604.5 million.

As the deniability of climate change becomes less and less prevalent, we’ve seen a huge surge in the agricultural technology sector, with indoor/vertical farming methods receiving a great deal of attention. Since its founding in 2013, Infarm has been at the forefront of this new generation of food production and now has 17 grow centres and over 1,400 in-store farms in commercial operation in 50 cities across 11 countries in Europe, North America, and Asia.

Boasting some impressive numbers, Infarm states that its modular technology can be deployed in as little as six weeks and has the capability of producing more than 500,000 plants per year, all in a space as little as 430ft2 (131m2). To put that into perspective, about the size of an average sitting room. Likewise, the company claims that its methods can be up to 400x more efficient than traditional soil-based agriculture, has no need for chemical pesticides, and requires 95% less land and water usage when compared to its terrestrial sibling.

And while Infarm isn’t growing bananas on trees quite yet, the company produces 75 different varieties of herbs, salads, and leafy greens, and has plans to introduce 40 new crops next year which will see the cultivation of edibles including mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, peas, and strawberries.

Infarm’s $200 million in a Series D funding round saw participation from existing and new investors, including the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), which will support the company's expansion to countries in the Middle East, Partners in Equity, Hanaco, Atomico, Lightrock, and Bonnier.