The agriculture industry is in desperate need of some innovation.
Our global population is predicted to reach more than nine billion by 2050, which experts say would require global food production to increase by as much as 70 percent in the next 30 years. On top of that, global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic have revealed massive inefficiencies in the industry’s supply chain.
In a nutshell, we need to figure out a way to grow our food using less water and fewer chemicals, while at the same time making them more durable and higher yield.
One popular solution to this problem is indoor farming, creating a network of high-tech greenhouses where we can monitor and grow our food more efficiently.
This industry has certainly seen a lot of green lately. For instance, San Francisco-based vertical farming startup Plenty raised a massive $140 million Series D led by SoftBank. Over the summer, Root AI, a Massachusetts company that uses AI-enabled robots to plant and maintain the crops it grows in its indoor farms, raised a $7.2 million seed round.
On Tuesday, Gotham Greens, a Brooklyn startup that grows leafy greens at its network of hydroponic greenhouses, announced it closed on an $87 million funding round led by Manna Tree. The company is already in 40 states, and plans to use this investment to grow its footprint even more.
Gotham Greens is the fastest-growing indoor farming company in the country, according to Manna Tree president Brent Drever.
“The pandemic has revealed flaws in America’s food supply chain system, particularly in the produce category, and new leaders and innovators need to emerge to ensure a stable food supply for the future,” Drever said in a statement. “We believe Gotham Greens’ brand, highly scalable business model and leadership team position the company to be the market leader in the rapidly growing and changing landscape.”
Indeed, Gotham Greens has been growing lately. The company says over the last year capacity has doubled after opening new greenhouses in Chicago; Providence, Rhode Island; Baltimore; and Denver. This has led revenue to double and retail unit sales to grow by 80 percent.
The company has also expanded its offerings, now providing greens, herbs, salad dressings and sauces. These products are now available in more than 2,000 retail stores, including Whole Foods Market, Meijer, Target and ShopRite, as well as its e-commerce site.
Looking ahead, this fresh funding will be used to expand the company even more, offering more products in more states across the country.
“Given increasing challenges facing centralized food supply chains, combined with rapidly shifting consumer preferences, Gotham Greens is focused on expanding its regional growing operations and distribution capabilities at one of the most critical periods for America,” CEO and co-founder Viraj Puri said in a statement. “We’re dedicated to changing how people think, feel and interact with their food while decreasing the environmental footprint of the traditional produce supply chain.”
