Tag: agtech

Cultivatd Raises $3 Million Series A Round

Written by Indoor Ag-Con on December 23, 2021. Posted in Exhibitor News.

Cultivatd has raised $3.5M in the past year and is actively expanding into the USA, UAE and Australia.

Cultivatd Inc, a Cornwall Ontario based indoor farm brokerage (and Indoor Ag-Con 2022 exhibitor!), announces the closing of a Series A round of investment of $3M USD led by Malcolm Bean of Resilient Earth Ventures (REV) Fund, a California-based firm focused on climate smart solutions and food security projects.

The funds will primarily be used to fuel the company’s expansion plans with new offices coming to Austin Texas, Dubai UAE and Perth Australia in 2022.

Cultivatd was founded in 2020 and the company’s Managing Partners, Eric Levesque and Eric Bergeron are both industry veterans who have been involved in Agtech for several years. Cultivatd has secured over 40 partnerships with some of the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry’s biggest technology providers such as IGS, Elevate Farms, Artechno, Cubic Farms, AmplifiedAg, Netled, RotoGro, and Delta9 in the past year, and intends to continue to expand its roster of partners over the coming year.

“These funds will allow us to service our growing list of clients, partners and projects and will help us get right into the middle of the CEA industry”, says Eric Levesque, Managing Partner and co-founder. “We did not anticipate the market would be this open to our service offering and we have now raised a seed round and a Series A in the same year to expedite that growth.”

The company currently has over $250 Million in active projects in it’s portfolio and expects that number to increase substantially in 2022. “The industry is growing quickly and more and more people need a better understanding of which technology provider is best for their project. It’s a massive capital commitment to open a vertical farm and we provide the expertise to help with planning and technology selection on behalf of our partners”, says Eric Bergeron, the company’s other co-founder and an AgTech industry veteran since 2014.

Malcolm Bean, Principal at REV Fund says “This investment is strategic in that it allows our fund access to the projects Cultivatd is brokering, helping speed up the process of their clients completing their vertical farming projects. We are very excited to see where this company is headed and to be part of it.” Malcolm will also hold a Board Seat at Cultivatd and help with strategy and growth.

Cultivatd is primarily a broker of technology but also offers a Farming-as-a-Service program in which the company will manage a farm’s operation for their clients. “We believe that success in this industry doesn’t just come from having the right technology (which we can help with) but also in having the right people running that technology. Our client’s success is ultimately our business model”, says Levesque.

The company intends to hire a few more staff to fill some major roles but is planning on staying lean – focusing instead on marketing and sponsorship opportunities to grow the brand into the $50 Billion dollar vertical farming equipment market.

For more information –

Eric Levesque
Managing Partner eric.levesque@cultivatd.com 613-360-5195

ABOUT CULTIVATD

Cultivatd Inc is a startup that connects people and businesses with the proper vertical farming technology for their needs. The company utilizes its years of experience in the indoor farming industry to assess needs and recommends the best solution for a clients’ budget, type of growing, location and knowledge. The company also offers services such as Farming-as-a-Service, where they deploy farmers to your location and general consulting services through a network of vertical farming experts throughout the world. Cultivatd helps clients get into the vertical farming space by guiding clients through the process of selecting the proper technology solution for their needs.

https://cultivatd.com

ABOUT REV FUND

Resilient Earth Ventures is a fund that accelerates sustainable energy and food systems in islands and remote communities. Managed by partners Malcolm Bean and Mark Higgins, the mission is to accelerate clean, sustainable, resilient energy and food. REV does this by investing risk capital in project developers, projects and technologies that can address the unique challenges of islands and remote communities.

We’re unique because we’re willing to take carefully considered business model, market and technology risks.

https://rev.fund

Overcoming Obstacles In Starting An Indoor Farm

Written by Indoor Ag-Con on December 14, 2021. Posted in Exhibitor News.

Story sourced from AgritechTomorrow

In this Q&A, Cultivatd Co-Founder & VP of Business Development Eric Levesque talked about the indoor farming industry — and how to overcome obstacles when startning an indoor farm — with AgriTechTomorrow.

Tell us about yourself and what inspired you to start Cultivatd.
I entered the ag tech space approximately 5 years ago when I joined ZipGrow Inc in a leadership role as Head of Sales and Business Development. After acquiring a minority stake in the company, I helped to grow the company to 10 million in sales and from only a few employees to 20 or so in the first 24 months. The outpouring of support from potential clients was astounding but the solution offered was niche for most projects, leading us to turning away potential buyers on a regular basis. With that in mind, Eric Bergeron (Co-Founder of ZipGrow and Cultivatd) and I set out to flip the industry on its head by partnering with a wide range of companies in order to have a solution for every project. A year later and Cultivatd now has nearly 50 partnerships with some of the world’s leading ag-tech companies; from hydroponics, aquaponics, LED light manufacturers (etc) and we are working on projects around the world.

What is Cultivatd’s mission?
Our mission is to be at the center of the indoor ag industry connecting our clients, partners and funders to create successful vertical farm projects. Our business model is unique in that our primary role is to be a connector. We accomplish this by working with some of the best tech companies in the industry, with funders and by teaching people how to operate their indoor farms.

Why is it so important for AgTech companies to coexist and work together to improve the industry.
The world has a huge problem to solve in the coming decades; Growing more food, for more people, with less space and less resources. Localizing the supply chain is a global problem and AgTech companies are getting pretty good at solving some of these issues. We feel like there is some pretty good collaboration amongst our partnerships, although we do see quite a few of the larger ‘big names’ in our industry making some bold claims that I believe are detrimental for the industry. Large mergers, over-valuations etc hurt our industry and so we are focused instead on helping projects become profitable and successful by finding the best companies in the industry that are looking to help be part of the solution to recommend to our clients. There is a reason we work with the companies we do, and collaboration is one of those traits.

What are some of the biggest obstacles to entry for a person or company looking to start up an indoor, vertical or container farm?
Cultivatd was founded with the goal of addressing what we feel is the biggest issue in entering the vertical farming industry; knowledge. Our team has experience as growers, product manufacturers, start-up founders and we have seen the industry from many sides (investors, clients, growers etc) and we look to share that every time we work on a project. We’ve seen too many people buy the wrong technology and be stuck trying to make a business work because they only spoke to one company – they simply didn’t know what else was available.

Capital is also a big barrier to entry for many. We get hundreds of calls from people that want to impact their communities with vertical farms only to be put off by the true cost of a system (CAPEX) so we are always very clear with people early on. We also work with partners to help lower this barrier to entry as technology is now at a more profitable state than when our industry was just beginning.

How does your indoor farm brokerage work to help solve some of these start-up issues.
Our business model has a 3-pronged approach to solving the issues we see from our clients;

1. Brokerage: We help clients’ select the best technology for their project and walk them through which different AgTech solutions work with their budget, market and type of products they are looking to grow. While every agtech company can offer only their solution, we can offer almost 50 options.

2. FAAS: We are aware that operating a vertical farm is a much more complicated and involving venture than just growing food. That said, we launched a service called Farming As A Service where we will send experienced farmers to our clients locations to help manage the farm.

3. Funding: One of the biggest hurdles in our industry is the CAPEX cost of setting up a farm. We have partnered with groups like Contain.ag to help our clients get off the ground with funding. We are also in the midst of setting up our own capital fund (announcement coming soon) that is specifically geared towards our clients and their capital needs.

Where do you see indoor farming going over the next 10 years and how do we get there?
We think we are still at the beginning of this industry, even though our team is now 8 years in, and that the need for indoor farming is going to continue to grow exponentially over the next decade. The global food supply need is getting bigger while the ability to grow food outdoors is changing quickly. We see vertical farms solving a lot of the issues facing mankind in the next 10 years through a variety of technological advances (LEDs, automation, aquaculture, plant varieties (proteins, hops, medicinal etc), localization of supply chain etc) and we are proud to be at the center of it. The farm of the future is a hybrid model with multiple technologies and we are positioning ourselves to be core to the industry’s evolution.

Interview realised by agritechtomorrow.

Trendlines Is Supporting Farmers With AgTech Developments | Agritecture Xchange Sneak Preview

Written by Indoor Ag-Con on November 14, 2020. Posted in Blog.

AgritectureXChange Trendlines Agrifood Innovation Center CEO — Source: Arabian Reseller

Indoor Ag-Con is a proud media sponsor of Agritecture Xchange, a virtual conference connecting key innovations in the field of AgTech to the future health of our cities coming up in December! Agritecture sat down with Anton Wibowo, CEO of Trendlines Agrifood Innovation Centre, prior to Agritecture Xchange. Anton will be speaking on the panel, Investor Viewpoint: Most Impactful AgTech Developments of 2020.

Meet Anton Wibowo at Agritecture Xchange, buy your tickets today and save with our Indoor Ag-Con Promo Code -IAC10.

Tell us a little about yourself! What sparked your interest in the field of agriculture and led you to work for Trendlines Agrifood Innovation Centre?

I come from Indonesia, with a family business background in the agricultural commodities trading industry. So, in some ways, I’ve always had interest in agriculture. Before joining Trendlines, I worked in a Singaporean tech startup that developed an agricultural waste recycling technology, a rapid composting process. 9 years in that startup gave me regional exposure to the field of agriculture. In short, my career to date has always been related to agriculture.

What can we expect to hear about in your intervention at the “Investor Viewpoint: Most Impactful AgTech Developments of 2020” panel?

To keep the suspense going, I’ll only reveal a little bit for now. I have been seeing a rapidly increasing trend for the utilization of big data and analytics in almost every aspect of agtech development this year. From biotech (seeds genetics, active ingredients screening) to automation (robotics, farm management), and even “fintech” (yield prediction, microloans to farmers).

What limitations have you seen the financing front causing for farmers? In relation to this, why do you believe it’s important to educate and aid farmers in this aspect?

This is a topic that is very close to my heart. Almost 80% of the farmers in the Southeast Asia region are smallholder farmers who live hand to mouth and are often just one bad harvest away from falling below the poverty line. Sadly, big organisations are unwilling to provide financing, understandably due to the perceived high risk. The farmers become vulnerable to “unlicensed and unregulated moneylenders” that charge exorbitant interest, making it incredibly difficult for the farmers to come out of that cycle.

In your experience, how have farmers and AgTech businesses been challenged financially and otherwise during this pandemic? How does the current Covid-related agricultural landscape compare to that of the past?

In my opinion, Covid has exposed the many vulnerabilities of the food supply chain, especially those affecting farmers. The problems that have been around for several years are brought to surface because people are beginning to realize that if we don’t support farmers, there is no sense in having seamless logistics and food manufacturers.

How has the management and investment experience in the Singaporean biotechnology and agribusiness communities been for you during these unprecedented times? Do you think there is a stronger need for such work given the growing agricultural challenges?

Yes, I definitely think that the need for tech will only grow here onwards. Working with the various stakeholders in agriculture is also extremely important. For instance, I see that the adoption of tech is much more complex than just having brilliant technology. The business model has to adapt, the big corporates who often have the distribution channel have to buy-in, and the regulators have to approve.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell our audience prior to watching you address the panel?

There is no more pressing and yet exciting time like today for you to make a positive impact in this industry.