Indoor grower Plenty Unlimited Inc., which markets under the Plenty brand, has $140 million more to grow its business.
The South San Francisco secured the funding during a Series D round, led by existing investor Softbank Vision Fund 1, with a new partner, berry company Driscoll’s, also investing, according to an Oct. 14 news release.
Days earlier, the companies announced an agreement in which Plenty will grow Watsonville, Calif.-based Driscoll’s proprietary strawberries year-round in its vertical indoor farms.
Funding details
The company has raised more than $500 million in investments.
Plenty has agreed to supply 431 Albertsons stores in California with leafy greens, and the recent funding will be used to expand.
“In just 30 years time, the world will need 70% more food than we currently produce, requiring more efficient use of land and water,” Jeff Housenbold, managing partner at Softbank Investment Advisers, said in the release. “Without innovation in agriculture, this demand will be impossible to meet.”
J. Miles Reiter, Driscoll’s chairman and CEO, said the company looked at other vertical farms, and Plenty’s technology was one of the most compelling systems for growing berries.p
“We got to know Plenty while working on a joint development agreement to grow strawberries,” Reiter said in the release. “We were so impressed with their technology, we decided to invest.”
Plenty has a research farm in Wyoming, a production facility in South San Francisco and an indoor farm scheduled to open in Compton, Calif., this year.
The Packer’s Produce Tech Coverage
Driscoll’s and Plenty agree to grow strawberries indoor
