Future Crops announces new investment round, led by Tencent

Future Crops announces a new investment round led by Tencent to accelerate growth. The Israeli-Dutch venture, Future Crops has developed advanced vertical farming that uses a unique soil-like substrate to better reproduce the natural environment.

Researchers from Israel’s Agricultural Research Organization (ARO) were an integral part of the team that developed Future Crops’ technology.

Future Crops had already raised over $30 million in seed funding from a private equity arm run by the Lerman Family. This is the first time Future Crops has sought investment beyond its initial round of funding.

“We are tremendously excited about this investment,” says Gary Grinspan, CEO and Co-Founder of Future Crops. “Tencent’s investment reflects the company’s focus on sustainable innovations and support for technologies, like vertical farming, which can create clean, locally grown sustainable food while helping to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change. We believe our soil-substrate-based platform is closer to nature and produces fresh, longer-lasting, higher-quality produce at improved yields, as plants grow best in soil".

“The timing of this investment round is perfect for us as Future Crops has recently scaled up to mass production capacity,” adds Grinspan. “We’re already supplying fresh high-quality herbs to leading European retailers, both under private label and our own brand. Currently, we market all our produce, so this investment will allow us to expand our capacities to meet demand and continue to increase our R&D capabilities and develop proprietary technology.”