A Hamilton-based vertical farming startup has raised another funding round as it prepares for “rapid” growth both domestically and abroad.
80 Acres Farms, the high-tech indoor farming enterprise, announced on Monday it’s added Barclays, the British investment bank, as a new strategic investor, joining Virgo Investments, Orange Wings Capital, QuietStar Capital and other family offices. The company did not disclose financial details but said 80 Acres has completed an A7, or the final round of funding in a Series A.
Mike Zelkind, CEO of 80 Acres Farms, told me the funds will allow the company to begin its next phase of “rapid domestic and global expansion.” Zelkind has said for months the company’s future plans include building additional indoor vertical farms both inside and outside the U.S.
80 Acres grows a variety of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs and microgreens indoors year-round, without pesticides, using a combination of LED lighting, artificial intelligence, robotics and more.
"There has been an explosion in demand for fresh, locally grown food, and this investment round enables us to continue to meet that demand,” Zelkind said in a release. “We look forward to developing our relationship with Barclays and their global network."
The investment from Barclays is part of a broader commitment by the UK-based bank to invest £175m in equity (or roughly $204 million U.S.) in “fast-growing, innovative and environmentally-focused private companies.”
Andrew Challis, co-head of principal investments at Barclays, said 80 Acres represents “an exciting investment proposition.” 80 Acres’ farms reduce water usage by 97%, while using less than 1% of the land and producing 300 times the yield.
"80 Acres Farms is able to shorten the vulnerable, carbon-intensive supply chain and secure retailers and consumers with consistent, safe, fresh, sustainably grown food,” Challis said. “This underpins our ambition to take a leading role in tackling climate change.”
The funding round from Barclays was completed in mid-September, prior to the opening of 80 Acres’ first fully automated indoor farm, a $30 million, 70,000-square-foot project in Hamilton on Hamilton Enterprise Park Drive. It’s also the second announcement involving Barclays this year.
In July, 80 Acres received a $100,000 grant from Barclays and Unreasonable Group, which runs a variety of business mentorship programs for social entrepreneurs, to help deploy its “Veggie Vans,” mobile markets that deliver food to neighborhoods adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The award helped strengthen the Barclays relationship, 80 Acres officials said.
The new farm in Hamilton, built by its affiliated company, Infinite Acres, with funding from Virgo, a private equity firm based in San Francisco, is virtually complete. 80 Acres seeded its first test crop Oct. 18 and will bring the facility to full production in phases. It’s the company’s eighth indoor farm in the U.S. — and it’s most advanced. Zelkind said the new facility will deliver 10 million servings in its first year alone.
“There’s nothing like it in the universe,” Zelkind said.
80 Acres products are sold at Kroger, Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Dorothy Lane, Jungle Jim's, and to national food service distributors including Sysco and US Foods.
