Launching Area 2 Farms
Area 2 spent years building a complete system ready to franchise nationwide. Now it’s ready to scale.
Area 2 Farms spent three years quietly perfecting their robotic mini-farm system to bring fresh produce within miles of every community. Now they’re ready to blow the doors off and change how we eat.
Area 2 Farms is building a (franchised) network of robotic mini farms, each of which produces a full basket of produce for its members each week like a CSA. The produce is local, fresh, nutritious, and absolutely delicious.
Since launching its first mini-farm, Area 2 has: 1) delivered 20,000+ harvests, 2) served 1,000+ customers and families, 3) hosted and educated 1,500+ students at its facilities, 4) sold out its harvest for 100+ weeks in a row. The team is turning unused commercial and industrial spaces (offices, malls, warehouses) into economic engines to feed local communities.
Getting this all to work has taken years of R&D on the hardware build, soil mix, plant breeds, and operating model all of which comes together into a comprehensive system that can make any entrepreneur a successful farmer ready to feed their community.
Area 2 Farms has raised a total of $9 million from Slow, 776, Animo Ventures, and 468 Capital to develop and scale this vision for a local, healthy, affordable American food system.
Unlike prior attempts at venture-backed indoor farming, Area 2
is producing a full basket of goods grow in soil and sold directly to consumers. This is much more margin-rich than a single crop sold through wholesale;
is operating as a franchise/network. Instead of needing to finance and operate everything themselves, they are strictly in the business of developing IP;
has spent years, heads down in the test farm getting it right before focusing on scale. Now it’s ready to grow!
The cumulative effect is a much more sustainable economic model that doesn’t consume huge amounts of capital to grow and pays back the investment on each unit very quickly.
Oren is a truly incredible founder that we would back for anything. Prior to co-founding Area2 he built and sold cybersecurity companies to Cloudflare and Amazon. Working with him is a breath of fresh air: he’s a consummate pro fully focused on a huge win in a category of his own making. His co-founder Tyler comes from Plenty and is leading a phenomenal new agriculture organization inside the business. We’re stoked to be along for the journey and proud to support this team.
You can read more about Area 2’s launch in Fast Company, North Virginia Mag, and Vertical Farming Daily.
Abundance
How a Housing Skirmish in NYC Revealed a Secret Truth About NIMBYism - New Republic
This fight in NYC was/is absolutely infuriating and reveals just how much the legalists and proceduralists are full of shit. Basically NYC NIMBYs tried to block a charter amendment from going on the ballot. There was no legal justification even offered.
They first and foremost care about stopping development, not the process by which they get there. They are losing and we are winning.
Don’t make abundance the moderate omnicause - The Argument
Yes, there are things I think a successful candidate could take from abundance, like Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s focus on “getting shit done” or Zohran Mamdani’s admission that he now understands the value of building market-rate housing. But if abundance “wins” it won’t be because a presidential candidate uses the word: It will be because people across party lines become convinced of the value of growth and a positive-sum economic vision, grow skeptical of claims about participatory democracy and paeans to localism, and are willing to make short-run sacrifices to begin building great things again.
Great reminder/great framing to focus on the principles and the goals, not the words.
SLOW linked me here to inquire about franchising? I would like to learn more.
LFGrow