Scottish firm raises £42.2 million in funding

Intelligent Growth Solutions Ltd, a Scottish agritech business, has announced the conclusion of its Series B funding round with a total raise of £42.2 million ($58 million). The announcement was made at its COP 26 exhibition site and welcomed by First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon MSP.

The latest investment round has been supported by a conglomerate of new investors including COFRA AG (Zug, Switzerland), Cleveland Avenue LLC (Chicago), and DC Thomson (Dundee, Scotland). 

For lead investor COFRA, a sixth-generation family-owned business, this is the first investment into sustainable food systems and agritech as part of its strategy to contribute to the food system transition.

COFRA, Cleveland Avenue, and DC Thomson were joined by existing institutional investors Ospraie Ag Science (New York City), S2G Ventures (Chicago), venture capital firm AgFunder (San Francisco), and Scottish Enterprise in the Series B investment round, with private shareholders and IGS staff also contributing.

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Donald Brenninkmeijer and Jason Mraz from Ospraie Ag Science LLC have both been appointed to the IGS Board as non-executive directors.

Speaking at IGS’ COP26 demonstration site in Glasgow, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon said: “Here at COP26, it’s fantastic to see a Scottish company at the forefront of innovation in agri-tech and vertical farming attracting investment from across the world. With a great team behind it and support from Scottish Enterprise, IGS is expanding rapidly and now has nearly 150 staff. This investment will enable its next stage of global growth. The success of IGS shows that the transition to net zero can create new opportunities for fair work and prosperity. The Scottish Government is determined to work with businesses and partners to grasp those opportunities as part of a just transition to net zero.”

IGS designs and builds vertical farms for farmers and growers in food, pharmaceutical, and fragrance markets around the world. It has deployed its technology to customers across four continents to date, with a sales pipeline that has quadrupled in the past 12 months.