Wheatsheaf Group (now known as Grosvenor Food & AgTech), has participated in a $25M series A round in vertical farming company Smallhold Inc which grows certified organic, speciality mushrooms in urban centres in the U.S. 

The investment will be used to help Smallhold deploy its next generation of farms, including new facilities in California, New York, Michigan and Florida. The funding will also support expansion of the workforce and investment into R&D to grow new varieties of mushrooms. 

“Smallhold’s vision and purpose are perfectly aligned with Wheatsheaf’s aim to re-think and re-shape how food is grown, produced, distributed and consumed,” said Katrin Burt, Managing Partner, Wheatsheaf Group. 

“Smallhold is connecting consumers to a new world of nutritious flavour and texture by producing great tasting speciality mushrooms, locally and sustainably.” 

Smallhold Inc. produces fresh, local, organic mushrooms which are grown in urban environments, reducing the time from harvest to delivery from over 10 days on a traditional farm to an average of just one day. 

Smallhold Inc. grows its wide range of specialist mushrooms on sawdust blocks – diverting waste from landfill – in its patented modular, rapidly deployable, growth chambers which mimic natural environments. 

The company operates Minifarms - which grow its high-quality mushrooms on-site at restaurants and grocery stores - and Macrofarms, which grow the mushrooms in centralised warehouse facilities in urban centres, reducing the waste associated with packaging and transporting fresh produce. 

Smallhold’s sustainable, vertical farming technology enables cost effective, year-round production of certified organic mushrooms which are packaged using as little plastic as possible.