Cultivatd raises $3 million in Series A round of investing

Cultivatd Inc., a Cornwall, Ontario-based indoor farm brokerage, is announcing today the closing of a Series A round of investment of $3 million USD led by Malcolm Bean of Resilient Earth Ventures (REV) Fund, a California-based firm focused on climate smart solutions and food security projects.

The funds will primarily be used to fuel the company’s expansion plans, with new offices coming to Austin, Texas, Dubai, UAE and Perth, Australia in 2022.

Cultivatd was co-founded in 2020 by industry veterans Eric Levesque and Eric Bergeron, who act as the startup's managing partners. Cultivatd has secured over 40 partnerships with some of the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry’s biggest technology providers such as IGS, Elevate Farms, Artechno, Cubic Farms, AmplifiedAg, Netled, RotoGro and Delta9 in the past year, and intends to continue to expand its roster of partners over the coming year.

“These funds will allow us to service our growing list of clients, partners and projects and will help us get right into the middle of the CEA industry,” says Levesque. “We did not anticipate the market would be this open to our service offering and we have now raised a seed round and a Series A in the same year to expedite that growth.”

The company currently has over $250 Million in active projects in it’s portfolio and expects that number to increase substantially in 2022. “The industry is growing quickly and more and more people need a better understanding of which technology provider is best for their project. It’s a massive capital commitment to open a vertical farm and we provide the expertise to help with planning and technology selection on behalf of our partners,” says Bergeron, an ag-tech industry veteran since 2014.

Bean, principal at REV Fund, says “This investment is strategic in that it allows our fund access to the projects Cultivatd is brokering, helping speed up the process of their clients completing their vertical farming projects. We are very excited to see where this company is headed and to be part of it.” Malcolm will also hold a board seat at Cultivatd and help with strategy and growth.

Cultivatd is primarily a broker of technology, but also offers a Farming-as-a-Service program in which the company will manage a farm’s operation for their clients. “We believe that success in this industry doesn’t just come from having the right technology (which we can help with) but also in having the right people running that technology. Our client’s success is ultimately our business model,” says Levesque.

The company intends to hire a few more staff to fill some major roles but is planning on staying lean — focusing instead on marketing and sponsorship opportunities to grow the brand into the $50 billion dollar vertical farming equipment market.