Korean agritech startup nets $21m as part of series B round

N.Thing, a South Korea-based agritech startup, has raised US$21 million as part of a series B funding round led by InterVest and Kiwoom Investment.

The latest fundraise adds to the US$5 million that N.Thing had previously bagged in the same round.

Ascendo Ventures, SL Investment, IGIS Asset Management, E1, and KT&G also participated in the latest round.

N.Thing CEO and founder Leo Kim (left) and CFO Chris Lee / Photo credit: N.Thing/PRNewswire

Founded in 2014, N.Thing specializes in vertical farming. The company’s offerings include Cube, a modular container vertical farm, and the Cube operating system, which uses cultivation data to create an optimized environment for crops.

In May, the startup signed a US$3 million deal with Sarya Holdings in the United Arab Emirates to construct a vertical farm. It is also working with Korean retailer Emart to distribute crops from its new vertical farm units, scheduled to launch within this year in Icheon, Korea.

N.Thing plans to use the fresh funds to commercialize Cube as well as expand its portfolio. Other near-term objectives include scaling up the supply chain network and its technology platform.

“This funding not only fuels our continued expansion but evaluating ESG (environmental, social, and governance), food-miles eventually for digital transformation in agriculture,” N.Thing CEO and founder Leo Kim said in a statement.