Vertical farming company Freight Farms has raised funding, led by investment firm Ospraie Ag Science, to advance the technical potential of its platform.

Ospraie Ag Science proposes to support sustainable solutions that improve the quality of life for farmers as well as society.

The $15m series B funding round also involved participation from existing investor Spark Capital. This brings Freight Farms’ total funding to more than $28m.

It will use the funding to design new services. This will benefit its growing global network of farmers and corporate partners.

This follows Freight Farms’ announcement last month of a strategic national partnership with Sodexo. The two companies will collaborate to grow food onsite at educational and corporate campuses across the US.

Ospraie Ag Science president Jason Mraz said: “Freight Farms has redefined vertical farming and made decentralising the food system something that’s possible and meaningful right now, not in the ‘future of food.

“Full traceability, high nutrition without herbicides and pesticides, year-round availability, these are elements that should be inherent to food sourcing.” 

Freight Farms debuted the first vertical hydroponic farm built inside an intermodal shipping container. Named the Leafy Green Machine, it aims to democratise and decentralise the local production of fresh, healthy food.

Freight Farms CEO Brad McNamara said: “It’s a big step forward for the industry when financial markets recognise and champion the value of creating a distributed food system.

“Aligned on mission-driven growth as a team, there is a massive opportunity before us to scale across global markets, propelling meaningful technology that’s already doing good.”

The company’s customers are largely in education, hospitality, retail, corporate and nonprofit sectors. They span 44 states and 25 countries.