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US indoor farming company Hippo Harvest has raised $30 million in a Series C funding round to accelerate the commercialisation of its robotics-powered organic leafy greens business.

The investment round was led by Cox Farms, North America's largest greenhouse operator, and will fund the construction of a new 30-acre greenhouse facility in Hollister, California, alongside the development of Hippo Harvest's next-generation robotic growing system.

The expansion represents a major increase in scale for the company, which currently operates a one-acre production facility. It also supports the commercial launch of indoor-grown organic spinach, following the retail debut of its butter lettuce range earlier this year.

Founded in 2019, Hippo Harvest combines greenhouse production with robotics and machine learning to produce USDA-certified organic leafy greens. The company says its hybrid portfolio, which includes both greenhouse-grown and organic field-grown produce, is designed to provide retailers with greater year-round supply reliability as climate change continues to disrupt traditional agriculture.

At the heart of the company's production model is a proprietary robotic growing system that uses Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) and machine learning to monitor, maintain and harvest crops throughout the growing cycle. The latest generation of the technology introduces robotic "tractors" that automatically reposition growing modules to maximise space utilisation and improve yields.

According to the company, the upgraded system will increase production throughput, lower unit costs and enable faster commercialisation of new crop varieties.

Eitan Marder-Eppstein, CEO and co-founder of Hippo Harvest, said: "Closing this round and bringing spinach to market in the same moment is a real signal of where Hippo Harvest is headed. We've spent years building a system that can grow certified organic greens consistently and at a price that works for both retailers and consumers. This investment lets us do that at the next level of scale."

Hippo Harvest currently supplies retailers across Northern California and the Pacific Northwest, including Sprouts, Haggen, an Albertsons banner and Gus's Community Markets. The company plans to expand distribution across the US West Coast while pursuing additional national retail partnerships.

The financing round attracted participation from both existing and new investors, including Congruent Ventures, Hawthorne Food Ventures, Collaborative Fund and the Fresh Investment Club. It follows the company's $21 million Series B funding round completed in February 2024.

Steve Bradley, president of Cox Farms, said: "Hippo Harvest is doing something genuinely exciting in indoor agriculture, and we're proud to be part of this next chapter. Cox Farms actively looks for opportunities to support innovation and new technologies across indoor agriculture. We can't wait to watch them scale."

Hippo Harvest says its controlled environment production system uses 92% less water, 55% less fertiliser and 94% less land than conventional agriculture. By combining greenhouse production with field-grown organic crops, the company aims to offer retailers a broader range of leafy greens while improving resilience against climate-related supply disruptions.