South African urban farming pioneer Homefarm raises seed funding to scale operations
SOUTH AFRICA – PixelBlue, the parent company of South African agritech start-up Homefarm, has raised R1.7 million (about US$104, 000) in seed funding to enable consumers, communities and businesses to grow more of their fresh food produce on-site where it is consumed.
Founded in 2017 as an urban farming pioneer, Homefarm was aimed to bring small-scale indoor farming to the mainstream consumer and commercial markets through the development and commercialisation of rapidly deployable, fully automated food farming systems.
Initially addressing the needs of urban households in South Africa with the Homefarm appliance, the start-up has since expanded its reach and product range by offering indoor farming systems to businesses and consumers both in urban and peri-urban environments.
The business has also launched its Homefarm commercial system which caters mostly towards businesses wanting to grow their own fresh produce on site.
This system can grow up to 15kgs worth of produce per month and is supported by Homefarm’s farming-as-a-service offering.
In a media release, Homefarm says its fully automated indoor farms and farming-as-a-service model means anybody, anywhere can grow their own food.
The systems are based on proprietary designs and technologies, and all its products are developed and manufactured in South Africa.
Homefarm Chief Executive Michael Currin highlighted that the seed funding will assist the start-up to scale its operations, improve its service offering and roll out its marketing and distribution channels.
The company also sees opportunities to provide its farms to customers in South Africa looking for easy and reliable indoor farming systems to supply produce all-year round to their families, communities and customers.
According to Matthew Emanuel, Chief Executive CapaciTech, one of the investors, “We are confident about the positive trend in the smart indoor farming tech space, and feel very positive about playing an active part in Homefarm’s journey.
“Michael and team have worked conscientiously to develop a portfolio of key technologies and products that will make a meaningful impact to a growing market.”
Homefarm aspires to reach international markets, and notes that there are many regions globally that do not enjoy an adequate agricultural economy making it difficult or expensive to deliver fresh produce.
These include island nations, regions with extreme climate or simply isolated, remote or rural destinations.
Today, Homefarm also serves customers in the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia in addition to its home market South Africa.
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