The round was anchored by previous investors including the Center for Innovative Technology who has increased their capital commitment. “The pandemic highlighted a national food-supply system issue, putting the spotlight on a critical need for more locally-grown produce options.

Richmond, VA (March 2021) - Babylon Micro-Farms, Inc., Richmond's latest addition to it's fast growing tech scene, has just closed a $3M seed round to fund their move into the national market and continue developing game-changing technology for the rapidly expanding ag tech industry.

Alexander Olesen, CEO of Babylon, sees a lot of momentum in the industry and this is reflected in the company's performance, the funding demonstrates Babylon's exciting potential in the eyes of investors given excellent traction in a highly competitive fundraising market. Olesen states, "2021 is on track to be a year of accelerating growth and major market penetration through national distribution as we continue to focus on deploying our indoor farming service. We're enabling businesses and communities to grow their own fresh produce and demonstrating the benefits of our fleet of remotely managed vertical farms."

The round was anchored by previous investors including the Center for Innovative Technology who has increased their capital commitment. "The pandemic highlighted a national food-supply system issue, putting the spotlight on a critical need for more locally-grown produce options. Babylon Micro-Farms has found their focus and it is a reflection of their leadership team's commitment to building a category-defining customer experience while making a positive impact," said Alex Euler, Investment Director, CIT GAP Funds. "During a time when many people are experiencing isolation, being able to watch your own garden grow can improve one's quality of life. The company's innovative approach to developing a technology system that enables its own staff to remotely control the light, water and nutrients for its farming systems is absolutely making them a leader in this space. CIT looks forward to following their future success."

Babylon also attracted new investors including Hull Street Capital, Venture South and the CAV Angels group. Chris Meyers, Managing Partner of Hull Street Capital commented, "Hull Street Capital is thrilled to participate in Babylon's seed round of funding given their market leading technology and proven ability to bring quality indoor farming closer to the kitchen."

Babylon's growth has been fueled by strong performances in both R&D and sales, despite the pandemic, through the expansion of their robust client acquisition campaign targeting chains providing commercial foodservice to a variety of industries. National distribution to major providers is underway and Babylon expects to see triple-digit revenue growth again in 2021 based on LOI's in place.

Strategic partnerships have played an active part in Babylon's success, they have been able to attract top talent to their advisory board including Massimo Noja De Marco, the CEO of Piestro, who was named one of the Top Ten 2020 NRN Power List of Restaurant Leaders and Margaret Roche, founder of Roche Dietitians, a highly regarded expert in the field of senior nutrition. Three new management hires, including veteran software manager Tom Steffes, supply chain expert Adam Nourse and former Airbnb manager Conor Welch, will support Babylon's plan to manage their expansion as they scale up their operations. Over the next 24 months Babylon will triple their workforce, exceeding original projections for 2022.

ABOUT
BABYLON MICRO-FARMS
At the touch of a button, Babylon Micro-Farms delivers a simple, yet engaging indoor growing experience. Babylon helps senior living communities, hospitals, schools, and hospitality companies showcase their commitment to providing fresh, nutritious produce and sustainability to their residents, employees, and customers. They have designed a complete on-site farming service that makes growing simple for anyone, thanks to their plug-and-play Micro-Farms and Guided Growing App. Babylon offers the most affordable, efficient, and advanced vertical farming platform available, remotely managed through the cloud with unparalleled customer service. Since their humble beginnings as a social entrepreneur student project, Babylon have attracted investors from Silicon Valley, been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to support their research, patented a groundbreaking technology, and received recognition by Virginia's Governor Northam for their contribution as a technology innovator following their successful application for funding from the Center for Innovative Technology. Babylon have designed a software platform to reclaim the decentralized food system of the 21st Century - using modular vertical farms that enables anyone to grow local produce on-site, all year round, indoors. They launched their first products focusing on the health care and senior living markets where our vertical farms provide access to food-as-medicine quality food and a variety of therapeutic activities.