Disrupting The Food Chain: 15 Early-Stage Farm-to-Table Startups To Watch

American interest in organic food is growing. In 2015 the sector recorded its fourth consecutive year of double-digit sales growth. Millennials, in particular, want local, organic foods, and value transparency in ingredients. To capitalize on these trends, we’ve seen a number of startups centered around bringing local farming to the mainstream.

As these startups have grown, though, many have faced challenged. Several local food companies shuttered their food operations, including Farmigo, which pivoted, and Farmstr, which shut down, while many others appear to no longer be active.

Considering these challenges and opportunities, we used the CB Insights database to identify early-stage farm-to-table startups that have raised funding within the past 24 months. Our list, ranked in order of funding raised, includes plug-and-play urban farming platforms, ingredient-tracing technologies, and grocery delivery services focused solely on small local farms. So far, many of these companies only operate in limited geographies.

Scroll down to see the list. Got any suggestions for more exciting startups in the space? Leave a note in the comments.

1. BrightFarms

Select investors: NGEN Partners, Emil Capital Partners, WP Global Partners, Catalyst Investors

Disclosed funding: $55M

BrightFarms builds and operates local greenhouses for grocery stores in the Northeast and Midwest. They focus on establishing long-term purchasing agreements with the stores, which then finance the local farming of produce to be sold under the BrightFarms brand. BrightFarms’ produce is GMO-free, and aims to conserve water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. BrightFarms most recently raised a $30M Series C in Sept. 2016.

2. Door to Door Organics

Select investors: Greenmont Capital Partners, Arlon Capital Partners

Disclosed funding: $44M

Door to Door Organics is an online, subscription grocery service that delivers locally grown produce to customers’ homes. The company aims to partner with farmers within one day’s drive of its distribution centers, and all its produce is organic. Based in Colorado, the company currently operates in several cities around the Midwest. In June 2016, it raised debt along with a $10M Series C from Arlon Capital Partners.

3. AeroFarms

Select investors: GSR Ventures, Middleland Capital, 21Ventures

Disclosed funding: $28M

AeroFarms produces an indoor, vertical farming system. Its platforms use a closed-loop aeroponic system that it says uses 95% less water than standard farming and 40% less water than hydroponic farming. AeroFarms also offers smart lighting tailored to different plants, and a reusable cloth medium made from recycled plastic that eliminates the need for soil. According to AeroFarms, it provides 75x the productivity per square foot of a traditional commercial farm.

4. Gotham Greens

Select investors: Undisclosed

Disclosed funding: $14M

Founded in 2009 in Brooklyn, Gotham Greens currently operates urban greenhouses in New York and Chicago, supplying year-round fresh produce to several states. The company uses pesticide-free farming, renewable electricity to power its greenhouses, and re-circulating hydroponic methods to conserve water. Its products include varieties of lettuce, herbs, bok choy, and tomatoes, and it focuses on hyperlocal distribution.

5. Podponics

Select investors: New Ground Ventures

Disclosed funding: $10M

Podponics operates small-scale urban farms based on its own comprehensive farm management software. The cloud-based software manages the farm environment, and integrates with Podponics’ IoT sensors that continually track and control light, irrigation, temperature, etc. Based in Atlanta, the company currently operates urban farms inside shipping containers in Atlanta, Oman, and Dubai.

6. Clear Labs

Select investors: Khosla Ventures, Felicis Ventures

Disclosed funding: $7.5M

Clear Labs produces Clear View, a molecular analytics platform that helps food producers and retailers monitor the ingredients they receive from suppliers. Clear View uses DNA sequencing and cloud-based software to provide food companies with a variety of tests, including GMO testing, microbiome testing, and pathogen detection. They aim to help food companies increase their confidence in food safety.

7. Freight Farms

Select investors: Spark Capital, Frontier Tech VC

Disclosed funding: $5M

Freight Farms provides fully functioning, pre-built farms inside of shipping containers. The farm systems include closed-loop hydroponic irrigation systems, LED lighting, and aeration systems. An accompanying app lets users control all systems remotely and receive real-time notifications on their phones. Founded in 2010 in Boston, Freight Farms focuses on lettuce and herb production. It aims to provide its shipping container-based farms to schools, corporate campuses, restaurants, and local entrepreneurs.

8. TruLeaf

Select investors: AgFunder, InNOVAcorp

Disclosed funding: $3M

TruLeaf creates systems for controlled, indoor vertical farms. Based in Nova Scotia, the company caters its installations to areas without easy access to fresh produce, and grocery businesses that want a year-round source of local produce. The company also focuses on plant production R&D, which it says may lead to biomedical applications. Beyond the vertical farming infrastructure, TruLeaf operates consumer-facing vegetable brands GoodLeaf Greens and Herbs and Market Garden.

9. Agrilyst

Select investors: Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, Metamorphic Ventures

Disclosed funding: $1M

Agrilyst designs analytic platforms specifically designed for local indoor farmers. Still in its early stages, Agrilyst raised $1M in seed funding in May of this year.

10. Walden Local Meat Co.

Select investors: Undisclosed

Disclosed funding: $1M

Walden Local Meat provides traceable, local meat deliveries to customers in New England. The company partners with local farms, attaches the name of the farmer to each meat order, and focuses on grass-fed or free-range animals raised without antibiotics or hormones. Its main business is a subscription “share” program, in which customers can receive a variety of different cuts of meats each month.

11. Greensbury Market

Select investors: CircleUp, Scout Ventures

Disclosed funding: <$1M

Greensbury Market is an online meat and seafood delivery service that delivers organic, locally grown meat and seafood from sustainable fisheries to customers’ doors. The company focuses on grass-fed and antibiotic-free and hormone-free meat, and offers single deliveries or larger “packs.” It has also partnered with celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels to offer several co-branded packs.

12. Luke’s Local

Select investors: Undisclosed

Disclosed funding: <$1M

Luke’s Local offers boxes of locally grown produce and other locally produced foods in the San Francisco area. They offer one-time orders, office catering, and subscription plans, and they also deliver prepared foods made by their chefs.

13. Suncrest Farms

Select investors: Undisclosed

Disclosed funding: <$1M

Suncrest provides a “Deep Water Culture” hydroponic system to greenhouse lettuce growers, a nutrient-enhanced water irrigation system that aims to help farmers increase year-round efficiency. Suncrest helps distribute the resulting harvests in local communities. It currently operates in Seattle and San Francisco.

14. Farmshelf

Select investors: Food-X

Disclosed funding: <$1M

Farmshelf offers small, modular growing units to support individuals and workplaces growing their own food.

15. Nextdoorganics

Select investors: Food-X

Disclosed funding: <$1M

Nextdoorganics provides local produce deliveries on a subscription basis in Brooklyn, New York. The company focuses on local, organic food grown on small farms in the New York area.

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