Infarm

Berlin-based Infarm is a startup that produces herbs and green leaves such as basil, pak choi, coriander, and thyme via a hydroponic vertical farming system. It also produces modular growing systems for grocery retailers, restaurants, schools, and shopping malls in a farming-as-a-service model that sets it apart from competitors. Infarm handles the installation, cultivation, harvesting, and maintenance of its modular farms.  

The company's cloud-based platform “Growing Centres” is designed to be scalable and can add more modules provided there are no space constraints. Each module can produce 500,000 plants per year using 430 sq ft of space. The farms are monitored and controlled by Infarm’s central control center. As of December 2021, Infarm revealed it was conducting R&D to expand its portfolio with 40 new crops in 2022 including mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, peas, and strawberries, while increasing its presence to 100 growing centers across 20 countries by harvesting a variety of fruits and vegetables by 2030. 

In November 2022, the company announced that it has successfully grown wheat at its indoor farms without the use of soil, chemicals and pesticides, projecting yields of up to 11.7 kg per square meter per year based on initial results.

Infarm strengthened its US presence in February 2022, with plans to open a new 73,000 sq ft vertical farm in Kyle, Texas with a capacity to produce 2.2 million pounds of salad per year. In June 2022, Infarm said that it would be building a 200,000 sq ft Growing Center in Maryland, its third and reportedly largest farm in its network. In Europe, the company began constructing a 10,000 sq meter (~107,000+ sq ft) vertical farming facility in Bedford in August 2021, which may be one of the largest vertical farming facilities in Europe, with the ability to produce up to 18 million plants per year at full capacity (equivalent to 360,000 sqm of farmland). The facility was opened in June 2022. Infarm also revealed plans to open its first growing center in Qatar in 2023, with a focus on fruits such as strawberries, alongside leafy greens, herbs, and salads (December 2021).

In October 2023, Infarm’s UK branch entered administration under the laws of England and Wales and the Insolvency Rules following the bankruptcy of its Dutch branch in September 2023. Previously in April 2023, the company closed its facilities in Frankfurt and Copenhagen due to escalating energy prices, inflation, supply chain disruptions, rising material costs, and tough financial markets.

Key customers and partnerships

Infarm expanded in Canada, via its partnership with Sobeys (Canada’s second-largest food retailer), to construct four production facilities in Calgary, Halifax, Winnipeg, and Hamilton by 2023, to supply to over 1,000 Canadian grocery stores (July 2021). It aims to operate a capacity of 3 million sq ft in Canada by 2025. The company also has partnered with the virtual supermarket Rohlik.cz to offer its greens in the Czech Republic, marking its foray into the Eastern European market. Infarm also partnered with Swedish multinational ready-to-assemble furniture company IKEA in June 2022 to supply modular vertical farming solutions to grow herbs at three IKEA stores.  Infarm expanded its presence to the Netherlands, where it announced an exclusive supply partnership with online retailer Crisp (January 2022). As of February 2022, the company had partnered with over 30 retailers across North America, Europe, the UK, and Japan including Kroger, Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, and Coop Danmark, supplying its fresh produce to over 2,850 stores. It also plans to enter new markets in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.  

Funding and financials

In June 2021, it was reported that it was in talks with Kernal Group to go public via the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) route. The possible transaction was likely to value the combined company at over USD 1 billion.  Infarm raised USD 200 million in Series D funding in December 2021. The round has brought the company’s total funding to around USD 605 million at a valuation of more than USD 1 billion. The fresh funds were to be used for Infarm’s global growth strategy.