From Produce Grower: 3 Takeaways From Indoor Ag-Con’s ‘The State of CEA Finance’ Keynote Panel
At Indoor Ag-Con 2026, Equilibrium’s Dave Chen and David Verbitsky of Verbitsky Capital reckoned with ‘mismatched’ investment partnerships in controlled environment agriculture, urging against venture capital geared more toward the tech industry.
From Produce Grower:
Day two of Indoor Ag-Con 2026 kicked off with another positive yet critical panel from Dave Chen, CEO of asset management firm Equilibrium, and David Verbitsky, president of Verbitsky Capital.
Interviewing each other, the two looked back on what they called “mismatched” investment partnerships that have plagued the CEA industry since its inception. Following suit with the previous day’s State of the Industry keynote panel, Chen and Verbitsky repeated a similar mantra: CEA is not a tech industry.
“We’re not expecting tech industry multiples; we’re expecting good margins and consistent growth from a farm that uses tech instead of acting as a tech company,” Chen said. “We need funding that understands and matches that.”
Here are three key takeaways from “The State of CEA Finance” panel.
1. Managing expectations
Chen and Verbitsky both agreed that venture capitalists often expect an unattainable return on investment.
“Avoid venture capital with a big growth expectation,” Verbitsky warned. “They’re not going to see things through because they’re looking for a different business model.”
“CEA is starting to understand it’s a tool, not a business model,” Chen added.
One solution to the mismatched capital problem: private equity.
According to Verbitsky, there has been growing interest from private investors, though he acknowledged an attendee’s concern that such investors can be volatile and prone to chasing trends.
Despite this, private equity can provide more flexible growth expectations, he said.
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