CubicFarm Systems

CubicFarm Systems Corp. provides vertical farming technology solutions to grow fresh produce and livestock feed. The company operates a proprietary vertical growing system, CubicFarms, which can be used by third parties to produce leafy greens and other plants at a commercial scale, consuming 54%–62% less energy per module compared to other vertical farms in the market.The company’s HydroGreen system is used to grow nutritious livestock feed. The company currently has an R&D facility in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia. In addition, CubicFarms develops propagation machines and control rooms for sale. The company’s growing system is priced at around USD 125,000 each, and propagation machines are priced at USD 155,000 each. In November 2019, CubicFarms went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Key customers and partnerships

In November 2020, Indiana-based vertical farming company Vertical Acres purchased 21 CubicFarm machines (17 cultivators, 3 propagators, and 1 fertigator) to form a complete CubicFarm installation. CubicFarm Systems completed the commissioning at Vertical Acres Farm in June 2023. The deal was worth CAD 3.8 million (USD 3.1 million). In the first few months of 2021, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, CubicFarms was able to grow and expand its business, expanding into Australia in April 2021, selling 18 modules of its CubicFarm System for USD 2.7 million. In May 2021, the company also sold 12 HydroGreen system modules to Dihl Gros International (a wholesale distributor) for its beef cattle customers.  As of May 2022, the company had i 204 CubicFarm Systems modules valued at USD 27.6 million that were pending manufacturing and installation, and it had sales commitments valued at CAD 23 million (~USD 17.9 million) for over 100 modules in 2022. 

The company also announced a USD 20 million contract from a private investor group for its next-gen “FreshHub” growing system in September 2021. The project is set to be complete by 2023 and includes a 96-module stacked vertical farming system that can produce 100 acres worth of field production using one-acre of land and will supply local communities in British Columbia, Canada. This project was reported to be the largest commercial-scale project for the company as at that date. 

Expanding its go-to-market strategy, CubicFarm reported Total Dairy Solutions US, a global leader in dairy farm solutions, and Settje Agri Services and Engineering, a provider of livestock engineering and design systems in the Midwest, as partners of its new “HydroGreen Certified Dealer Network” in October 2021. Partners of this network will supply CubicFarm’s HydroGreen farming systems to their customers, which include livestock farmers. In addition to these, CubicFarm has secured Hansen Industries (October 2021), HydroGreen CanWest (November 2021), Central Confinement Service LLC (February 2022), and Mountainland Supply Company (April 2022) as dealers. 

Funding and Financials

The company’s revenue increased 87% YoY to CAD 455,392 ( ~USD 338,125 ) in Q1 2023 , driven by increases in sales within the fresh (+60% YoY) and feed divisions (+422% YoY). Net losses for Q1 2023 were CAD 4.7 million (USD 3.5 million), which improved by 47% YoY due to reduced operating expenses (-52% YoY) from the company's cost reduction measures.

In May 2022 , CubicFarm announced an overnight marketed offering of unsecured convertible debenture units and common shares and raised USD 10.6 million. In December 2022 , CubicFarm Systems announced the offering of its units for CAD 0.063 (~USD 0.04) per unit for gross proceeds of USD one million. The net proceeds from the issuance of the units will be used for debt reduction purposes.