Primed for (Vertical) Growth: Elevate Farms Raises US$2,500,000 in Pre-Series B Round; and Assembles US$10,000,000 Construction Consortium to Build Farms Across Switzerland and the United States with in-place Off-Takes

TORONTO, July 30, 2024 /CNW/ - Elevate Farms Inc. ("Elevate Farms" or the "Company") is happy to provide this corporate update on the Company's current position and matters related to expanding production worldwide.  Widely recognized as a world leader of vertically stacked quiet-technology for crop production, and having built farms in Toronto, New Jersey, and Wellington, New Zealand, Elevate Farms is closing in on finalizing large scale farm projects in Switzerland, as well as Pennsylvania and Arizona. These new facilities are in partnership with existing local customers who see the benefit in a local, sustainable, and resilient vertical farming partner.

Elevate Farms continues on its path to "elevate agriculture" – closing a US$2.5 million pre-series B round and building a US$10 million construction consortium of financial and operating partners for its vertical farming expansion in Europe and the United States. Alongside participation from early investors Brightspark Ventures, Elevate's growth partners now also include private investors with a track record in food / AG-tech investments and operation, as well as AG-tech focused funding including Orange Ridge Capital and local Swiss strategic partners.

"The initial hype for vertical farming was exciting, but reality was always going to catch up to the fact that most of the technology was not market-ready", reflects CEO and co-founder Amin Jadavji.  "At Elevate Farms we've tried to keep our head down and focused our efforts on optimizing efficiency and scale. For the industry to live up to the potential of building a more sustainable and resilient way to grow food, we have to find a way to compete at market prices. We have accomplished this with large format autonomous vertical farming, building on a strong base of photobiology research as we turn to commercializing our scalable technology globally."

Mr. Jadavji continued, "Since opening its first farm in Ontario, Canada in 2020, Elevate Farms has built a total of 10,000m² of growth space across Canada, the United States and New Zealand, producing both herbs and leafy greens. An additional 7,000m² of growth space is currently under construction in New Zealand, bringing Elevate Farms' total growth space to 17,000m² or 4.2 acres.

"Elevate Farms sells its produce to retail and wholesale customers at mainstream prices, thanks to a growth system with proprietary lighting, patented automation, and top in class photobiology technology that drastically lowers energy consumption, labour costs and overall land requirements. At an industry leading growth space productivity yield of 151kg/m² and vertically stacking 11 or more growth layers, Elevate Farms reduces the footprint required to grow its produce by more than 18x when compared to high-tech greenhouses and more than 500x when compared to traditional agriculture systems."

Nikolas Oetker, CMO at Elevate Farms, explains why the time is right for building strategic funding and operating partnerships: "There is enormous potential for vertical farming to sit alongside regenerative fields and high-tech greenhouses as the pillars of an agricultural system that stays within our planetary boundaries, but to do so we need to look at each farm as a separate business. There needs to be a product/market fit, affordable, asset-backed financing and a commercial and operational team with local roots to run the farm profitably."

About Elevate Farms

Elevate Farms was founded with the purpose to 'elevate agriculture'. Our mission is to design, build and operate vertical farms that grow incredibly flavorful, highly nutritious foods, and to do so at scale and in a way that contributes positively to our planet.

Elevate already has facilities in Canada, the US and New Zealand and is now entering its second phase of expansion by expanding its US footprint and entering the European market.

SOURCE Elevate Farms Inc.

Amin Jadavji Chief Executive Officer ‎Email: [email protected]