July 17, 2017

Paris-based container farming startup, Agricool, announced it has raised US$9.1 million through a funding round that includes Jacques-Antoine Granjon, the founder of  Vente-Privee.com; entrepreneur, Thibault Elziere; and existing investors, Henri Seydoux, the founder of drone company, Parrot and venture capital firm, Daphni.

This round comes only a matter of months after the company announced it had raised $4.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2016 through a round led by Daphni, and included Hemri Seydoux and Jean-Daniel Guyot, a co-founder of Capital Train.

Founded by Gonzague Gru and Guillaume Fourdinier, Agricool has selected strawberries as its first crop – producing them using vertical surfaces within 30 square meter containers that employ a closed circulation system that uses only renewable electricity, filters the air brought in from outside the container, and eliminates the need for the use of pesticides. The system allows for the control of multiple factors including temperature and humidity levels, the LED color spectrum, and the ratio of “daylight” hours to “night” hours. It also uses 90 percent less water than traditional agricultural production, and each 30 square meter container is able to produce as much food as 4,000 square meters of open farmland.

“Last year we accelerated R & D, we multiplied the yield by 50 and halved the price of the containers,” Agricool co-founder Fourdinier told Maddyness. “It has been proven that we can be productive and change the image of urban agriculture. We now need to confirm the whole model, validating in particular the distribution model and the industrialization model.”

In order to validate its model and to trial its technology, TechCrunch reports that Agricool has a warehouse outside of Paris with refrigerated rooms in which it can A/B test all aspects of its production model before building containers custom-designed to meet specific benchmarks.

Currently, the startup is advancing its business, and is installing five containers around the city of Paris in order to test different distribution and sales models  – in Bercy, Saint Dennis, Asnières-sur-Seine, and Station F.

“We will start distribution this summer in Paris,” said Fourdinier. “We’ve been waiting for this for two years. We will finally be able to see how consumers welcome our strawberries, but also make talk about our mission.”

The company also has plans to begin franchising its containers but will still negotiate distribution directly, according to Les Echos. Hopes are to grow to a franchise of 1,000 containers, with the company focusing on R&D, branding, and the production of containers. The company also has an eye toward future fundraising being allocated toward expansion into overseas markets.

Agricool’s strawberries will cost approximately €4 for a 250g package, compared to €6.70  for organic strawberries produced in France. The price differential is being attributed to the business model eliminating the need for an importer, transportation, supermarket locations, or other such infrastructure.

Looking toward the future, the startup sees itself expanding beyond strawberries, to be a major brand for the production of a range of fruits and vegetables.

“We want to build the biggest brand for fruits and vegetables,” Fourdinier told TechCrunch. “No pesticide, a lot of flavor, no GMO, harvested and sold on the same day.”

-Lynda Kiernan

Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to GAI News. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.