• Plenty, a US hydroponic-based vertical farming company, has raised USD 400 million in a Series E funding round led by One Madison Group and JS Capital. Existing investor SoftBank Vision Fund 1 and new investor Walmart also joined the round. Representatives of One Madison Group and Walmart are expected to join Plenty’s board of directors following the investment.

• The funding round brings Plenty’s total funding to USD 900 million and marks the largest funding round in the indoor farming space to date. The funds are expected to support Plenty in its change in business model and aligned growth plans. The company is looking to sell its multi-crop vertical farms directly to customers in addition to selling herbs and greens.

• Additionally, Walmart also announced that it entered into a long-term partnership with Plenty as part of its investment. According to the partnership, Plenty will initially supply its vertically grown produce to 250 Walmart stores in California from its farm in Compton in 2022. The produce will mainly be sold under Walmart’s private label, with a select few being sold under the Plenty brand name.

• The partnership is part of Walmart’s strategy to develop a new product category for vertically farmed produce, which will be spearheaded by Plenty.

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: While Plenty has initially focused on selling vertically grown produce, it is now looking at backward integration in the supply chain, similar to players like Kalera. Plenty expects to bring its third and largest farm into operation this year, competing with peers Kalera (four farms) and Bowery Farming (three farms operational and three under construction). The funding round follows the announcement of Arama Kukutai as CEO earlier this month, who was brought in to transform Plenty into a full-scale vertical farming company.</ul>