Brightfarms 4.9 million dollars to build a garden in the cement forest

On one side is the city of land-inch gold, one side is full of soil fragrance of the countryside, brightfarms hope that the use of abandoned open space and retailers idle roof, the combination of the two to build a new garden, the vegetables directly to the hungry local fresh ingredients of the city.

According to Forbes, Brightfarms, based in New York, received a $4.9 million trillion round of funding last week, including NGen, Emil Capital, and founder Ted Caplow. Brightfarms was founded in 2011, mainly through the construction and management of urban greenhouses, then to retailers selling their own fresh vegetables (lettuce, tomatoes, etc.) to gain profits.

Brightfarms uses hydroponic systems (hydroponic system) to replace the soil to deliver the water and nutrients needed for the crops to grow. Because of the indoor cultivation, while the temperature of the greenhouse is controllable, brightfarms crops no longer need to use pesticides and other chemical pesticides, can achieve year-round healthy growth, ensuring food safety while also increasing production.

Now in Europe and the United States, hydroponic technology has been relatively mature. Brightfarms's success lies in its innovation in the business model: first, local cultivation can reduce the huge logistics cost, and can save the time cost of the vegetables placed in the shelf longer, but also convenient for consumers: they can store vegetables in the fridge for longer.

In addition, brightfarms fees and traditional suppliers are flat or even lower, and one sign is a ten-year contract. Annual food price fluctuations (weather, production, etc.) have been the pain points of retailers ' purchases, Brightfarms promised them stable vegetable prices and supplies over the next 10 years, even if prices fluctuate less than inflation. That's why retailers are willing to work with brightfarms.

In recent years, many companies dedicated to providing local fresh and healthy ingredients have been the focus of capital: In addition to brightfarms, the local organic fresh electricity business Good eggs last September, the Sequoia capital of 8.5 million U.S. dollars a round of financing, The same model of Grubmarket is the current YC hatching project, which just received 2.1 million dollars in seed-wheel investment last week, and another fresh electricity trader, Farmigo, is committed to connecting consumers to "food communities" and local small farms through the "online marketplace". Also received 8 million U.S. dollars in the earlier round of financing.