Infarm B.V.: may want to leave the European market

Amstelveen / NL. (eb) Infarm – Indoor Urban Farming B.V. – may want to leave the European market, rustles the press in surprise. The assumption is certainly not new, after the founders Erez Galonska (CEO), Osnat Michaeli (Chief Brand Officer) and Guy Galonska (CTO) announced a change in strategy in November 2022 and more than half of the workforce – about 500 employees – had to leave. The Company blamed «the escalating energy prices and the difficult financial markets.» It said it needed to adjust its ambitious growth targets and increase efficiency to make the business profitable and continue to pursue its long-term mission. Outsiders naturally wonder why Infarm doesn’t generate the energy it needs itself. After all, vertical farming can only succeed if solutions to its Achilles heels are already on the table. In other words, if you don’t just bask in the glow of your investors, but roll up your sleeves and solve problems.

In any case, the many well-known food retailers who agreed to cooperate in Europe will be wondering what further cooperation will look like. On February 09, 2023, Infarm added to its statements that the subsidiaries in UK, France, the Netherlands and Japan were now closed. This was followed on April 06 by the information that the branch in Frankfurt (DE) is also closed. On April 16, the company announced that the branch in Copenhagen (DK) was also closing. The facility in Toronto (CA) would remain unaffected.

From what can be read, the Middle East could now be a conceivable option. This is supported by the fact that Erez Galonska, Osnat Michaeli and Guy Galonska are native Israelis. In 2013, they jointly founded what was then «Infarm GmbH» in Berlin. In 2021, their company became the first German food startup to achieve unicorn status and be valued at more than 1 billion US-Dollar. Then they moved to Amstelveen in the Netherlands with big plans. Faced with the pandemic and the onset of the Ukraine war, the problems begun the three founders believe they won’t be able to solve them in Europe. Existing investors are said to have agreed to put up another total of 50 million US-Dollars for the planned move.

bakenet:eu