The heat wave made the case more starkly than could any investment pitch deck.
In their offices in Portland, the team at Equilibrium Capital was putting the finishing touches on the real assets manager’s second greenhouse agriculture fund just as the temperature in the Oregon city hit a record-shattering 116 degrees. The Controlled Environment Foods Fund II is itself a record-breaker as Equilibrium’s first billion-dollar fund.
It’s a lot of green to grow a lot of greens — and other fruits and vegetables. Portland-based Equilibrium Capital has raised more than $1 billion to invest in a new generation of greenhouse-based agriculture, which advocates say better addresses climate change and other environmental problems tied up with traditional farming.
It is difficult not to take note of the amount of investment capital flowing into private greenhouse vegetable and vertical farming operations these days. Why is this a trendy investment area, and what opportunities do investors see in these markets?
Equilibrium plans to invest more than $110 million to back its portfolio company Revol Greens, as it expands into Texas through a four-phase construction of what it says will be the world’s largest indoor lettuce facility.
Revol Greens, a Minnesota-based producer of greenhouse lettuce, has plans to locate a new a manufacturing operation in Temple, Texas.
Understanding social impact is critically important to operational success and investor returns. In this article, Equilibrium summarizes its thinking around reporting on the human aspect of the firm’s Sustainability Framework 2.1.
Episode 35 of Tip of the Iceberg Podcast features an interview with Nick Houshower of private equity firm Equilibrium, a major investor in the greenhouse produce space, including with Little Leaf Farms, Revol Greens, AppHarvest and Houwelings.
Sustainable finance has officially gone mainstream. As of 2019, $30.7 trillion is held in sustainable or green funds, representing a third of all assets under management. And the share is growing quickly, with many funds reporting record flows into sustainable investment products during the first half of 2020.
On the heels of closing its $68 million funding round, led by Equilibrium Capital, Revol Greens BB #:358676 is adding Michael B. Wainscott to the newly created role of Chief Financial Officer.
The Kellogg School of Management is now the host of the Moskowitz Prize, which is the premier global prize for research in sustainable finance and is awarded each year “to the paper best representing outstanding research on sustainable and responsible investing and the financial implications of responsible business practices in capital markets.”