Vertical farm pioneer GrowUp secures £38m funding boost
Summary
Vertical farming specialist GrowUp has secured a major funding boost, after sustainable infrastructure investment firm Generate Capital announced it is to invest \xa338m in support of the companys expansion plans.The new investment will allow the company to expand capacity at GrowUps Kent vertical farm - where it produces crops for the ready-to-eat salad market - and help accelerate the growth of its Unbeleafable and Fresh Leaf Co. brands. The funding will also support on-going R&D at GrowUps Leaf Lab site in Cambridge.The latest cash injection extends Generate Capitals existing partnership with GrowUp, following an initial financing deal in 2021 that enabled GrowUp to demonstrate its energy-efficient growing system and start converting a five-acre brownfield site into a vertical farm, which the company claims can produce crops equivalent to that provided by 1,000 acres of grade one farmland.The company has subsequently become the first vertical farm to have supplied branded, bagged salads to supermarket giants Tesco, Iceland, and SPAR.Marcus Whately, CEO of GrowUp, hailed the latest investment as "a fantastic boost to GrowUp [that] recognises the teams passion and talent". "With Generate Capitals support, we have proved that vertically farmed salads are sustainable, cost competitive, and commercially viable, as well as tasty, healthy and long lasting," he added. Weve come a long way with Generate Capitals support, since Kate Hofman and Tom Webster set up their first vertical farm in 2013, supplying salad leaves to London markets and restaurants. "Advocates of vertical farms maintain they can slash water use, carbon emissions, and other environmental impacts associated with crop production, while also reducing food productions exposure to escalating climate impacts.However, some detractors have questioned the energy requirements of new vertical farms and the ability of the sector to scale up to provide more calorific crops.You can now sign up to attend the fifth annual Net Zero Festival, which will be hosted by BusinessGreen on October 22-23 at the Business Design Centre in London.