Tobacco producer KT&G and propane gas provider E1 participated in a $26m series B round for South Korea-based indoor farming technology developer N.Thing on Sunday.
Venture capital firm InterVest and asset manager Kiwoom Investment co-led the $21m second tranche of the round, which also featured Ascendo Ventures, SL Investment, Igis Asset Management and unnamed existing investors.
N.Thing has created a modular vertical farming system called Cube and will channel the funding into commercialising the technology internationally. It has agreed to build a $3m vertical farm with trading group Sarya Holdings in the United Arab Emirates later this year.
Seoulz reported in April this year SpringCamp, an affiliate of internet group Naver, had provided $2.1m in series A funding for N.Thing before it added $10m from Samsung Ventures – on behalf of electronics producer Samsung – as well as internet company Woowa Bros, retailer E-Mart, Eugene Investment & Securities and TBT Partners.
The company had already raised $1.7m from Korea Development Bank in 2015 and said the latest funding represented an extension from an earlier $5m close, indicating the $10m in the Seoulz report could have been split between two tranches.
Image courtesy of N.Thing Inc.