Soli Organic, formerly Shenandoah Growers, gains $120 million in financing
Rockingham, Va.-based Soli Organic, formerly called Shenandoah Growers, has reached an agreement with real estate investment firm The Decennial Group for $120 million in financing to expand its controlled environment agriculture (CEA) operations.
The company will have 15 soil-based indoor farms, supporting its plans to shift 90% of production to indoor, according to a news release.
The corporate name change to Soli Organic Inc. is effective immediately. Product branding will begin to convert to Soli Organic on select product lines in spring 2022.
Soli Organic generated more than $130 million in revenue in fiscal year 2020. With new investors Cascade Investment LLC and Alexandria Venture Investments joining existing equity partners, the company has raised $125 million to further scale technology and operations
The company’s high-tech, soil-based process delivers 100% USDA-certified organic produce to more than 20,000 retail stores nationwide.
The soil-based, organic, indoor production process that Soli Organic uses helps control costs and supports the environment, Soli Organic CEO Matt Ryan said in the release.
“Support from Decennial Group and equity partners enables Soli Organic to further scale and share those benefits with more retail customers and more consumers in more geographies,” Ryan said.
The company also launched a new corporate name and brand, Soli Organic. The word “Soli” is derived from the Latin word for soil and reflects the pivotal role of soil in enabling the company's mission to make low-cost, high-quality, organic produce grown nearby available to everyone.
Founded in 1989, Soli Organic could be the first commercial produce company to transition from outdoor field to controlled-environment production, according to the release. Its use of soil has enabled Soli Organic to achieve low unit costs for organic produce. Its organic production system, water- and energy-efficient technologies, and strategic farm locations support sustainability values.
The arrangement with Decennial Group is a key component of the company's strategy to further expand production capacity to meet growing demand.
“We could not be prouder of this arrangement with Soli Organic, which we believe will support the company's mission-critical real estate needs in a way that is effective, efficient and highly scalable, while maximizing social impact,” Decennial Group managing partner Scott Goodman said in the release.
Soli Organic has plans to build eight new farms, in addition to its seven farms in operation today.
The Decennial Group financing will support construction of three of the eight planned facilities. Each 100,000-square-foot facility will have an annual production capacity of 5 million pounds. The company recently broke ground on the first facility financed through Decennial Group, in Anderson County, S.C., and should be fully operational by the second quarter of 2022.
The arrangement with Decennial Group – a developer-led investment management firm committed to preserving the natural and cultural resources of the communities it serves through environmentally responsible investments – is one of the largest of its kind for Soli Organic to date.
The company has attracted a total of $125 million from a growing coalition of strategic food and ag tech- and environmental, social and governance (ESG)-focused investors.
As part of its growth strategy, Soli Organic has hired more executives, including former Starbucks executive Matt Ryan as CEO; former Postmates senior vice president Mike Buckley as chief financial officer; former Walmart executive Cameron Geiger as chief operating officer; and plant biology and lighting expert Tessa Pocock as chief science officer. They join longstanding executive team members president Philip Karp, chief customer officer Steven Wright and chief technology officer Ulf Jönsson.
