Little Leaf Farms Banks a USD 300 Million Funding Round

Discover this week's 10 most important indoor vertical farming news

Photo by Joshua Lanzarini on Unsplash

Good morning readers, impressive funding rounds, expansions, groundbreaking agreements, and more!

Discover this week’s 10 most important vertical farming news!

1 - Little Leaf Farms Banks a USD 300 Million Funding Round Led By The Rise Fund

Little Leaf Farms has successfully raised USD 300 million in new capital in a funding round led by The Rise Fund, TPG’s multi-sector global impact investing strategy, and debt funding from Bank of America. The funding will support the company’s growth & expansion plans to make Little Leaf Farms’ lettuces accessible to more than half of the United States by 2026. To reach said goal the company will double the acreage of its current facility and open a new greenhouse in McAdoo, Pennsylvania this summer.

Founded in 2016 by TPG in partnership with Bono and Jeff Skoll, The Rise Fund brings an unrivaled ability to help businesses grow and achieve long-term success. As per their press release, The Rise Fund’s investment in Little Leaf Farms “underscores the increased consumer interest and demand for sustainability grown produce and supports Little Leaf Farms’ mission of fresh, leafy greens for all.” The transaction will also see Maya Chorengel, Co-Managing Partner of The Rise Funds, joining Little Leaf Farms’ Board of Directors.

2 - Power Corp Raises $210 Million For Sustainable Agri-Food Investments

Power Corp (TSE:POW) announced the closing of an initial $210 Million of aggregate capital commitments for Lios Fund I. The funding round has seen the participation of The Canada Life Assurance Company, Farm Credit Canada (FCC), Export Development Canada (EDC), Fonds de solidarité FTQ, BMO Capital Partners, and CIBC. The Equity platform will enable the company to invest in sustainable agri-food solutions as people seek solutions to face inflation. Within the platform’s investment categories, controlled environment agriculture (or indoor vertical farms) is expected to have a significant proportion.

3 - Infarm Partners With IKEA To Include Cabinets in Selected IKEA Stores in Germany & Sign Partnership For Carbon Data Management

IKEA has entered into a partnership with Infarm to grow high-quality herbs inside the restaurants of three IKEA stores in Germany. Infarm and IKEA have carefully selected a selection of herbs to complement the culinary range in the chain’s restaurants at these locations. The partnership aims to inspire IKEA employees and customers to lead healthier and more sustainable lives. Later this week, Infarm announced a partnership with Carbmee to integrate carbmee’s carbon management software to monitor and report on its Scope 3 emissions. The company recently stated its vision for the impact of the future of food and its commitment to setting Net Zero Science-Based Targets in its Impact Vision Paper.

4 - Leafood Expands To Baltics With 6.4 Million Euro Funding

The Vilnius-based startup, Leafood, has raised €6.45 million in funding to build and operate a network of indoor vertical farms in Lithuania and the greater Baltic region, including Poland in partnership with YesHealth Group. The funding round was led by the founder of organic farm Farmer’s Circle and hospitality hub the Baltic Food Republic, alongside YesHeatlth Group. As per the startup’s comments in recent media interactions, the vertical currently under construction in Vilnius (to be finished in Q1 2023) is a 4000m², within a 7150m² space, yielding over one-thousand kilograms of leafy vegetables per day, and it will be entirely powered by renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.