Agtech company targets Texas for world’s largest lettuce greenhouse
September 29, 2020 – Owatonna, Minn. – Revol Greens announced today it closed a $68 million funding round, bringing the fast-growing company’s total financing to $215 million as it executes on its strategy of five locations in five years. Led by Equilibrium Capital, this funding will launch Revol’s third facility, a 20-acre phase of a planned 80-acre facility in Texas – the largest lettuce greenhouse globally. With facilities in three states, Revol is building a regional network of high-tech greenhouses that will initially supply 33 million pounds of greens annually and reach 1/3 of the U.S. population within 24 hours of harvest.
Founded in 2016, Revol has built a controlled-environment platform capable of growing lettuce sustainably in any environment – no pesticides, herbicides or chemicals used. With the committed financial support of Equilibrium, Revol is now rapidly expanding its platform of high-tech greenhouses strategically around the country, creating rewarding agtech jobs and a higher-quality, nutritionally-dense supply of greens accessible to a larger population at an affordable cost.
“Revol has spent three years bundling technology, applications, recipes and data in a Minnesota climate where temperature and humidity reach extremes,” says Mark Schulze, CEO of Revol Greens. “We are confident that we can deploy our technology anywhere on the planet. Our team has unparalleled experience in designing and deploying controlled environment agriculture (CEA) technology, and with Equilibrium at our side, we have become very efficient at doing so. 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.”
“CEA is becoming an alternative to the tradition of growing crops in the field,” says 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 10,000year-old agriculture sector. Equilibrium’s investment strategy is to find the industry leaders that will create the future of agriculture. Revol Greens, their ag-technology platform, and their ‘5-in-5 strategy’ are poised to be one of those tech-driven disruptive agriculture market leaders.”
With today’s major climate changes and food safety concerns, Revol’s technology-driven greenhouse production revolutionizes a $20 billion salad and lettuce market fraught with challenges. With a protected, climate-controlled environment, the company’s platform reduces the risk of spoilage and contamination of its greens. As climate change continues to accelerate, Revol’s climate-adaptive system will stabilize local supplies of lettuce and ensure communities have access to healthy greens.
Using advanced, closed-loop hydroponics, the facilities eliminate harmful agricultural runoff common in traditional field-grown greens. The greenhouse also provides 80 percent of the needed sunlight for the plants. This sustainable growing system captures and utilizes data at all levels from seed to shelf, optimizing the inputs needed for plants to grow and limiting the waste of valuable natural resources. All of this eliminates waste and run-off resulting from an outdoor environment.
This funding announcement follows Revol’s recent expansion in Minnesota, along with a new facility in Tehachapi, California. In addition, the company released three new products in July including Romaine Twins, Green Leaf Crunch and Power Up Blend. Now with more than 10 product varieties, Revol offers one of the most diverse, highly-nutritious portfolio of greens on the market – both to retail and restaurants.
ABOUT REVOL GREENS
Revol Greens is a Minnesota-based benefit corporation and market-leading agtech company that is transforming the lettuce industry through high-tech lettuce greenhouses across the U.S. Revol harvests and delivers within one day, resulting in the freshest taste and peak nutrition, with a shelf life four to six days longer than out-of-state greens. Revol has the most advanced greenhouse technology and growing methods in the industry. As such, the facilities use 90 percent less water than traditional field-grown greens. With sustainability at its core, Revol Greens also stores and UV-sterilizes rainwater and snowmelt from its greenhouse roof for irrigation water. Harnessing the “greenhouse effect”, Revol’s facilities rely on sustainable, free sunlight for the majority of energy needed for its greens to grow; supplemented only when necessary with highly efficient LED lighting. Grown Clean and Green™ in an animal and pest-free environment, no pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals are used in the process. Revol Greens currently grows more than five million pounds of non-GMO lettuces annually. For more information, visit www.revolgreens.com and follow on social media @revolgreens
ABOUT EQUILIBRIUM
Equilibrium is a leader in sustainability-driven real asset investment strategies for institutional investors. The firm has developed market-leading investment strategies and portfolios in controlled environment foods, waste-water-energy distributed infrastructure, and climate resilient infrastructure. The firm has offices in Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; and London, England.
