Revol Greens closes $68m funding round to become 'world's largest indoor lettuce producer'

25-Sep-2020 - Last updated on 25-Sep-2020 at 16:24 GMT

Photo: Revol Greens

Minnesota-based Revol Greens has closed a $68m funding round led by Equilibrium Capital -- bringing the company's total financing to $215m -- to launch a third lettuce greenhouse facility in Texas, which will bring its total annual output to 33 million pounds of greens able to reach one-third of the US population within 24 hours of harvest.

With 90% of the country's greens and packaged salads originating from the West Coast, Revol Greens has transformed the Midwest region into a year-round growing location for leafy greens with its first hydroponic greenhouse launched in Minnesota in 2018. Its second and third greenhouse facilities will be located in California and Texas and will be opening in 2021.

This funding announcement follows Revol’s recent expansion of its 10-acre greenhouse in Owatonna, Minnesota.

In addition, the company released three new products in July including Romaine Twins, Green Leaf Crunch, and Power Up Blend (SRP $2.99-$3.99 based on retailer location).

"By the end of next year, Revol will be the world’s largest indoor lettuce producer. Our goal is to lead the agtech revolution in leafy greens,” said Mark Schulze, CEO of Revol Greens.

Founded in 2018 by a Dutch greenhouse grower, horticulture consultant, and founder of Bushelboy, Revol Greens has built a controlled-environment platform capable of growing lettuce sustainably in any environment without the use of pesticides, herbicides, or chemicals. According to the company, it uses 90% less water than traditional field-grown greens by storing and UV sterilizing recycled rainwater and snowmelt from its greenhouse roof for irrigation water. The glass greenhouse provides sunlight needed for greens to grow; supplemented only when necessary with high efficiency LED lighting.

With the financial support of Equilibrium, Revol Greens will rapidly expand its platform of high-tech greenhouses around the country, revolutionizing the $20bn salad and lettuce industry, which has been fraught with food safety and environmental challenges, said David Chen, CEO of Equilibrium.

“CEA (controlled environment agriculture) is becoming an alternative to the tradition of growing crops in the field,” said David Chen, CEO of Equilibrium.

“High-tech greenhouses give us the ability to return to regional food systems with farms that produce our food near our communities. Regionalism gives us resiliency, food security, and addresses the threat of climate change to our food system. Greenhouses are the tech disruptor in a 10,000-year-old agriculture sector," noted Chen.