Babylon Micro-Farms announced on Wednesday a $3 million seed round it will use to expand the business.
The startup, which creates indoor hydroponic farming systems powered remotely by cloud technology, was co-founded in 2017 by University of Virginia classmates CEO Alexander Olesen and CTO Graham Smith. It recently relocated its headquarters from Charlottesville to Richmond, a move Olesen told Inno would help the startup attract more tech talent.
The new HQ is a 7,700-square-foot space in Scott's Addition. Gov. Ralph Northam's office award Babylon $140,000 to assist with the expansion and relocation.
Babylon plans to use the new money to expand nationally and to continue development of its technology as the ag tech industry continues to grow at a rapid pace, Olesen said in a news release.
He said the industry has a lot of momentum right now, which is reflected in the strides the company has made recently.
"2021 is on track to be a year of accelerated growth and major market penetration through national distribution, as we continue to focus on deploying our indoor farming service," he said in the news release. "We're enabling businesses and communities to grow their own fresh produce and demonstrating the benefits of our fleet of remotely-managed vertical farms."
The funding round was anchored by previous investors, including the Center for Innovative Technology, which increased its capital commitment to Babylon. The round also drew in new investors like Hull Street Capital, VentureSouth and the CAV Angels.
Chris Meyers, managing partner of Hull Street Capital, said in the news release, "[We are] thrilled to participate in Babylon's seed round of funding given their market-leading technology and prove ability to bring quality indoor farming closer to the kitchen."
The startup raised a $1.6 million capital round late last year, bringing its total funding, to-date, to $4.6 million.