July 27, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

Previously known as Edenworks and then Seed & Roe, the newly rebranded aquaponic company Upward Farms announced it has raised $15 million in new funding led by Prime Movers Lab, and is constructing a new headquarter farm in Brooklyn, New York. 

This funding brings total funding to-date for the startup to $20 million.

“As a leading investor in breakthrough scientific companies, we are honored to join Upward Farms’ journey to transform billions of lives through next-level nutrition, safety, and deliciousness,” said Suzanne Fletcher, general partner, Prime Movers Lab, and a new member of the Board of Directors at Upward Farms.

Upward Farms takes a novel approach to indoor aquaponic farming. The company creates a complete ecosystem in which fish fertilize the crops resulting in a robust microbiome offering increased yields (of both fish and leafy greens), a higher level of control over disease prevention, and unprecedented food safety.

Although indoor-vertical farming has been gaining serious traction with investors, so far, this unique, hybrid production business model remains relatively new.

“By cultivating complete ecosystems with a strong microbiome and leveraging the precision and control of indoor agriculture, Upward Farms not only grows thriving plants and animals, but offers the potential for a sustainable food supply that is both scalable and safe,” said Jason Green, co-founder and CEO, Upward Farms.

Co-founded in 2013 by neuroscientist and biotechnologist Jason Green, high performance building designer Ben Silverman, and manufacturing and construction innovator Matthew LaRosa, Upward Farms represents a paradigm shift in productivity and scalability, as much as its new name represents its mission “to heal a broken food system”. 

The new HQ facility, which will be unveiled in late 2020, will sustainably farm mercury, antibiotic, and hormone-free striped bass, and the nutrient-rich off-take water produced by the fish will be used to feed the crops which are grown in an organic growing medium. Automation and robotics move the plants through different growing environments in specialized rooms providing optimal conditions for every stage of growth such as controlled light, temperature, and nutrition.

The entire system relies on the biodiversity and ecology that intersects between fish and crop farming instead of pesticides, sanitizers, or synthetic fertilizers, and is expected to increase production twentyfold over the startup’s original facility.

The non-GMO leafy greens produced on-site will be harvested, washed, and packed into recycled PET packaging designed to maximize shelf-life and minimize landfill waste. They will then be shipped to grocers and distributors across the New York City region. The fish farmed at the location are expected to reach the New York market by 2021. 

COVID-19 has driven even higher consumer demand for organic, healthy, sustainable, and traceable foods, with sales of fresh produce showing double-digit growth year-on-year for the period March-June 2020, according to Upward Farms, that stated that its production approach reconnects eaters with high-quality, local, and nutritious food, rather than food that has traveled long distances along extended supply chains.

“With the support of this capital investment, we will continue to expand the marriage of nature and nurture to produce affordable greens in abundance and make them accessible,” said Green. “Everyone should be able to easily and affordably nourish their body, family, and the planet.”

“Recent events have highlighted what we at Upward Farms already know,” continued Green, “…biology has a life force all its own that must be respected. That’s why we are stewards of nature, learning from and building technology to enhance biology.”

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.