80 Acres Farms confirms $115M capital raise

80 Acres Farms announced capital raises totaling $115 million and the acquisition of Plantae Biosciences, an Israeli biotechnology company.

"Our ability to raise capital in today's market speaks to the confidence investors have in the need for controlled environment agriculture and our vision and execution," said Mike Zelkind, CEO and co-founder of 80 Acres Farms, in a released statement. "New funding has allowed us to broaden our technology platform, grow our retail footprint and develop an ingredients channel, all to meet customer needs. We're able to make plans for the long term while delivering results today."

According to 80 Acres Farms, its capital raises in 2024 were supported by a combination of new and existing investors, including General Atlantic, Siemens Financial Services, The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, Barclays Climate Ventures, Virgo Investment Group, Blue Earth Capital and other Midwestern financial institutions.

The company expects the acquisition of Plantae Biosciences to bring innovative plant breeding technology to 80 Acres Farms and its subsidiary, Infinite Acres.

Since 2020, Plantae has collaborated with the Weizmann Institute of Science on projects in accelerated plant breeding via an exclusive license agreement with the institute's commercialization arm, Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd. The researchers who built Plantae are now operating as Infinite Acres Israel.

"Crops tailored for controlled environment agriculture can be a major unlock for the industry," said Tisha Livingston, CEO of Infinite Acres and co-founder of 80 Acres Farms, in a statement. "Using advanced plant breeding technology, we can begin to truly differentiate produce by optimizing for flavor, texture and nutrition, unlike anything available in the marketplace today."