October 2, 2019

(Photo via IGS)

By Lynda Kiernan

Scotland-based indoor vertical farming and commercial technology business Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) announced a second close on its Series A, bringing total funds raised through the round to £7 million. (US$7.6 million).

The additional £1.6 million (US$1.75 million) in capital was invested by Ospraie Ag Science, and includes  £100,000 (US$123,000) from AgFunder. Existing investors from the original £5.4 (US$6.6 million) Series A in June include Chicago-based S2G Ventures, AgFunder, and the Scottish Investment Bank.

With this capital, IGS plans to strengthen and expand its market presence for its Agtech and commercial lighting systems, which are expected to see initial deployments in early 2020 amid high demand.

Ospraie Ag Science has recently been very active, with this being its third investment announced within two months. As an investor targeting opportunities in the agtech space supporting sustainable solutions that improve the quality of life for both farmers and society, the fund made two investments within a week of each other in two separate crop protection startups – AgroSpheres and Terramera –  totaling $49 million. 

Now, Ospraie will bring its 25 years of ag investing experience to Scotland and to IGS, creating a foundation from which to build out a global platform in the indoor vertical farming market.

“The further investment of £1.6 million is a hugely exciting one, not only for our business, but also for the Scottish economy,” said David Farquhar, CEO, IGS.

“Ospraie has chosen IGS as its initial investment target in the indoor agriculture market, and also as its first investment in Scotland, which is a substantial endorsement of our technology and approach to date. Working alongside our other investors in this Series A funding we are in a really strong position to take our offering to a global market and meet the demand that is growing almost daily.”

Founded in 2013, IGS was launched with the goal of increasing commercialization for indoor horticulture by bringing together internet-enabled smart lighting technology with automation and power management to mimic weather conditions via a pre-programmed “weather recipe”.  To do this, the startup developed a breakthrough IoT-enabled power and communications platform involving patented electrical, electronic, and mechanical technologies connected to the most sophisticated ventilation system in the world. Managing the system, which also monitors crop health, is a SaaS data platform that uses AI to deliver economic and operational benefits for global  indoor farming operations.

“IGS has tremendous potential to transform the way food is produced and supplied, and our investment – Ospraie’s first in the indoor agriculture market and in Scotland – is a testament to our strong belief in the success of IGS’ technology,” said Dwight Anderson, CIO, Ospraie AG Science.

“We are excited to partner again with Dwight and the Ospraie team. IGS will benefit greatly from the Ospraie insights, networks and entrepreneurial vision in building scaled businesses in the outdoor sector. Indoor Ag is set up to grow considerably and we are excited about IGS’ role in that effort,” said Sanjeev Krishnan, managing director, S2G Ventures.

IGS’ platform has the potential to lower energy requirements for indoor ag projects by up to 50 percent, by giving producers an alternative to high-cost LED lighting, and its vertical “farm in a box” can reduce labor costs by up to 80 percent with yields of 225 percent compared to agricultural production carried out under glass.

“The benefits of IGS’s Vertical Farming align well with our mission of helping farmers do more with less. We look forward to leveraging our significant agriculture network to help IGS grow its business to meet the market’s demand for sustainable solutions.”

– 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