80 Acres Farms, a Hamilton-headquartered vertical farming company, has raised a landmark funding round as it looks to continue its expansion and product development.
The company Monday said it secured a $160 million Series B. That’s the largest total raise ever announced by a Greater Cincinnati-based startup — and by a long shot.
The round brings the company’s total funding to date to more than $250 million, Mike Zelkind, CEO of 80 Acres Farms, told me, catapulting 80 Acres into position as the region’s best-funded startup by more than $107 million.
The Series B round, announced Monday, was led by New York-headquartered General Atlantic and joined by Siemens Financial Services, the U.S. financing arm of global technology company Siemens.
Blue Earth, formerly PG Impact Investments, and General Atlantic's Beyond NetZero team, in addition to existing investors like Barclays and Taurus, also participated.
The company will use the capital for continued expansion and product development, building from its current footprint of vertical farms that yield a diverse offering of produce.
“The investment is a quantum leap for the business to build more farms both nationally and globally," Zelkind said in a release. "We are proud of what our team has been able to accomplish and enthusiastic about the road ahead.”
80 Acres grows a wide variety of produce, including leafy greens, herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers and microgreens, and operates eight indoor farms, including its latest, a new, 64,000-square-foot, state-of-the art farm with 10 levels of cultivating space. 80 Acres formally debuted the space in January.
80 Acres 2021
The company's growing technologies and advanced data analytics capabilities have enabled its industry-leading product breadth, it said, driving over 450% revenue growth since the end of 2020.
80 Acres Farms now services over 600 retail and food service locations, including its recent expansion with Kroger, announced earlier this year.
With farms co-located near customers, 80 Acres Farms' produce travels fewer food miles, shortening the farm-to-table footprint and reducing overall food waste. Growing methods at 80 Acres Farms use 97% less water than traditional farming practices and are powered by renewable energy.
80 Acres Farms is in the process of identifying new commercial farm locations to operate at similar scale.
As part of the funding round, Shaw Joseph, managing director at General Atlantic, will join the 80 Acres board.
"80 Acres Farms is building an incredibly exciting business that provides high-quality produce through innovative practices,” Joseph said. “With global food consumption increasing and growing threats impacting supply chains and food security, there is a pressing need for healthy, fresh and local foods grown in more sustainable and cost-effective ways."
Eli Aheto, former 80 Acres Farms board member, led Beyond NetZero's contributions to this round.
Barclays acted as sole placement agent to 80 Acres on the capital raise.
