Since completing its first equity raise 3 years ago, Kroptek has evolved into an Agri-tech platform encompassing technology solutions as well as urban crop production and distribution across 130 facilities in 20 countries. Scaling the strategy one step further this past year, several urban farms have come together to inaugurate the Kroptek Network of fully-indoor controlled environment agriculture (CEA) commercial producers.
Building on its achievements so far, Kroptek is gearing up its investments and client focus in 2023.
The network now includes three urban farms, combining complementary technology and know-how: a leafy greens farm in Canada, a micro-greens farm and a mushroom farm in France.
The most recent addition from August 2022, Wesh Grow, based in Paris and Marseille, delivers microgreens to dozens of Michelin-starred restaurants. With its commitment to high-quality fresh produce, Wesh Grow is the ideal fit for Kroptek’s pursuit of growing gourmet produce locally within urban centres. The partnership also provides a unique opportunity for synergies with Kroptek’s La Boite a Champignons (LBAC) to build a multi-crop production platform that will be developed in 2023 and expanded nationally.
This past year, LBAC’s coffee waste mushroom subscription program also proved particularly successful, with over 50 multinational corporations signing up for it and participating in its biowaste recycling initiative. The ground coffee waste is mixed into the substrate to grow high-quality gourmet mushrooms that are then sold to distribution chains like Carrefour and Metro as well as high-end restaurants in Paris.
Across the Atlantic, Sunden Farms which has been operating from its pilot farm in New Brunswick, Canada, is completing phase one of a ten-fold expansion in January 2023. Whislt construction on phase two will kick off in spring. Once completed, the farm will have 35,000 square feet of indoor grow space and will produce high-quality leafy greens and aromatics locally as a substitute for more expensive lower quality imports from as far as 5,000 miles away.
Kroptek Solutions, the group’s in-house technology solutions platform, has continued to pursue its mission of aligning the needs of growers with the technology they use under a single group.
Kroptek’s LED solutions are now being used across the world for both vertical farms and glasshouses to grow a variety of crops as part of the mission to revolutionise how fresh food is consumed in urban areas by extending the season of certain products and cutting dependence on imports.
Of particular success has been Kroptek’s focus on delivering made-to-order, and application-specific LED grow lights and CEA solutions thanks to the unique combination of an ISO-certified manufacturing facility and a UK-based product development team.
“Growers and technology companies within the Agri-Tech industry share a single common goal, but the industry is fragmented. It is evident that if the industry is to fulfil its ambitions, collaboration will be key.
By aligning the ambitions of growers and technology companies under a single group, Kroptek provides the expertise, the technology, and the team needed to create scalable and profitable businesses out of indoor farming operations.”
– Salim Halabi, Managing Director, Kroptek –
Now, as Kroptek’s global network of farms has successfully navigated its pilot stage, and Kroptek Solutions has seen its revenues double every year, Kroptek is gearing up for its next phase of international development.
The aim now is to further extend the network across the world and build synergies across its operations: integrating the portfolios of each farm, leveraging commercial partnerships, and sharing the technology and know-how needed to create profitable urban farms.
To support this next phase of Kroptek’s growth, we are pleased to announce that Wissam Farah has been appointed as CEO. He succeeds Salim Halabi, now Managing Director, who led the company’s transformation over the past three years and will continue to develop Kroptek Solutions whilst also taking charge of strategic projects to support the network’s expansion.
“I am delighted that Wissam Farah has become CEO of Kroptek. We are most fortunate to have him and Salim Halabi, as they combine formidable knowledge of the sector as well as wider experience. I much look forward to Kroptek’s continued growth under this leadership.”
– Harry Wyndham, Chairman, Kroptek –
Wissam co-founded Kroptek in 2018 and was responsible for raising its initial pre-seed and subsequent seed investment rounds, as well as assembling its management team. A seasoned business leader, over the past decade Wissam has been an active venture capital and angel investor, helping raise capital for several early-stage companies. Previously he held leadership positions at bulge-bracket international investment banks.
“This sector has become a government level priority across the World for food security reasons in addition to continued streamlining of the global food supply in face of urbanisation and environmental pressure. It has seen billions of dollars of capital raised, yet we are increasingly seeing large companies failing.
It is evident companies are struggling to find profitable and sustainable business models in this new space. Thanks to its unique strategy and our dedicated and passionate team, I am confident Kroptek is not only ready for its next phase but has learnt considerably to avoid the mistakes that other companies have committed earlier in the cycle.”
– Wissam Farah, CEO, Kroptek –
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