Pink Farms, which presents itself as the largest vertical urban farm in Latin America, concluded a round via crowdfunding that reached BRL 4.8 million, 20% more than expected when the campaign was launched on the SMU platform.
According to Pink Farms, the investments are already destined for the expansion of the productive area, the development of new crops (such as strawberries, tomatoes and mushrooms) and the expansion of the engineering team to carry out projects on larger vertical farms. A “table-to-farm” store, in which products are consumed where they are grown, is also on short-term plans.
Geraldo Maia, Pink Farms founder and CEO, told about the scalability plan for vertical farms across the country. “We are happy with the investors’ interest in our business; we want to invest to expand and transform the Brazilian vegetable production chain”, he said.
Pink Farms’ crowdfunding illustrates well the good receptivity to the fundraising from individuals – regulated in Brazil since 2017 by the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission.
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The model allows anyone to invest in startups – with a registration, it is possible to invest amounts ranging from BRL 500 to BRL 5,000 in startups of anykind. Funding alternatives also increase for companies themselves, which can launch rounds on platforms such as SMU, CapTable or EqSeed, among others.
“This kind of investment increases startups’ access to smart money and provides unique opportunities for investors to participate more actively in the innovation ecosystem of high-potential startups like Pink Farms”, says Rodrigo Carneiro, CEO at SMU, which led the Pink Farms’ crowdfunding.
