London-based Vertical Future has been put up for sale after reporting mounting losses, becoming the latest vertical farming startup to fall victim to headwinds facing the industry.
The startup, which ran an indoor farm growing micro-crops, saw losses surpass £10m in 2024 after its turnover fell from £6.7m to £692k, CityAM reported on Wednesday. The company, founded in 2016, had raised £37m in total from investors including SFC Capital and Pula Investments.
It had previously been reported that Vertical Farming was seeking to raise £60m to scale up its systems, as part of an attempt to lower costs through economies of scale.
Vertical farms grow crops indoors in controlled environments, theoretically lowering the need for pesticides, and allowing food to be grown closer to the end consumer.
A number of vertical farming startups popped up and raised large rounds in 2020 and 2021.
Since then, the industry has faced significant hurdles, including the rising price of energy needed to power the farms. As interest rates rose, the dip in consumer spending power also hit the companies, whose produce is often more expensive than the field-grown crops sold in supermarkets.
At least 15 European vertical farming companies have gone bankrupt. Europe’s best-funded vertical farming startup, Infarm, was declared insolvent in its major European markets. Smaller players who also filed for bankruptcy include French startup Agricool and UK-based The Jones Company.
