The Venture Codex

Participated · Series A · Nov 2021

Agrourbana operates vertical farming facilities producing high-quality vegetables year-round with a strong focus on sustainability. The company uses 99% less soil and 95% less water and grows without pesticides. It currently supplies major chains and restaurants but is operating at maximum capacity. Management says the business is not yet profitable and is raising capital to scale production and expand facilities. Agrourbana occupies 400 m² of a 4,000 m² site and plans to utilize the entire space and expand its Quilicura plant to five times current capacity. The team aims to multiply production 20 times within three years and describes the planned output as 'lettuce forests' equivalent to 20 hectares within a market of at least 70,000 cultivated hectares. AgroUrbana, founded in 2018 in Chile by Pablo Bunster and Cristian Sjögren, operates climate-controlled hydroponic vertical farms growing lettuce and is trialing crops such as strawberries. The company runs a 3,000-square-foot pilot facility in Santiago using precise spectrum lighting and supplies supermarkets including Cencosud and Walmart, as well as restaurants, catering channels, and a direct-to-consumer subscription box. It closed a $4 million Series A to fund construction of its first large-scale plant, a replication of the pilot that will be ten times larger and is expected to increase output roughly twentyfold. Management emphasizes a technology-agnostic, off-the-shelf approach informed by the founders’ renewable-energy experience rather than developing proprietary systems. AgroUrbana plans to use the new facility to prove a profitable large-scale model and then expand across Latin America, targeting major cities such as Sao Paolo, Bogota, Lima, and Mexico City. AgroUrbana operates a 3,000 sq ft pilot vertical farm in the suburbs of Santiago, growing layered, hydroponically produced leafy greens and fruits under LED lighting. The team plans to use the recent seed funds to advance pilot testing and scale operations. They describe themselves as South America’s first vertical farm according to the Association for Vertical Farming. AgroUrbana has inked a first offtake deal with a major Chilean grocery retailer and is exploring distributed scaling versus larger centralized plant models. Management plans a 30,000 sq ft facility and aims to pursue Series A funding later in the year to bankroll that expansion. The founders are evaluating renewable energy options for scaling, including power purchase agreements, financing a power plant, or building on‑site solar.

Led · Seed · Aug 2021

Wheel the World operates a travel-technology platform that aggregates and verifies detailed accessibility information for hotels, tours, and transportation services. Its core product pairs booking tools with a proprietary database covering more than 8,000 travel services across 150+ global destinations, allowing wheelchair users and other travelers with disabilities to reserve accommodations that genuinely meet their needs. The company’s Accessibility Verified program audits properties on-site to capture structured data points such as doorway widths, bed heights, and bathroom configurations. With fresh Series A capital, management plans to expand this verification program throughout the United States and Europe while embedding AI to accelerate data capture, validation, and distribution. Ultimately the team aims to make accessibility data as standard in travel as pricing and availability. Including the latest infusion, Wheel the World has secured $11 million in Series A financing to fund these initiatives.