US vertical farming company Freight Farms has raised $15 million in a Series B funding round led by investment firm Ospraie Ag Science.
The round, which received participation from existing investor Spark Capital, brings the company’s total funding to more than $28 million.
The investment will be used to advance the technical potential of Freight Farms’ platform through innovation, with new services designed to benefit its network of farmers and corporate partners.
Founded in 2010, Freight Farms debuted a vertical hydroponic farm built inside an intermodal shipping container – the Leafy Green Machine – with the mission of decentralising the local production of fresh food.
“It’s a big step forward for the industry when financial markets recognise and champion the value of creating a distributed food system,” said Brad McNamara, Freight Farms CEO.
“Aligned on mission-driven growth as a team, there is a massive opportunity before us to scale across global markets, propelling meaningful technology that’s already doing good.”
Jason Mraz, president of Ospraie Ag Science, added: “Freight Farms has redefined vertical farming and made decentralising the food system something that’s possible and meaningful right now, not in the future of food.
“Full traceability, high nutrition without herbicides and pesticides, year-round availability – these are elements that should be inherent to food sourcing. Freight Farms’ Greenery makes it possible to meet this burgeoning global demand from campuses, hospitals, municipal institutions and corporate businesses, while also enabling small business farmers to meet these needs for their customers.”
The funding comes weeks after Freight Farms announced a collaboration with Sodexo to install its Greenery hydroponic container farms at universities and schools across the US.
The partnership will enable the on-site growth of fresh, traceable produce year-round that’s pesticide- and herbicide-free and sourced with zero food miles.
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