Agricultural technology company Hippo Harvest has secured $30 million in a Series C funding round led by Cox Farms, the largest greenhouse operator in North America.
The capital injection will fund a 30-acre greenhouse expansion at a newly permitted facility in Hollister, California, and support the development of the company’s next-generation robotic growing systems. The expansion marks a major scale-up from the company’s current one-acre facility in Pescadero, California, and will accelerate the commercialisation of its indoor-grown organic spinach.
Robotic Growing Technology
Founded in 2019, Hippo Harvest utilises a proprietary growing system that combines Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), machine learning, and closed-loop watering to control agricultural inputs precisely. The AMRs function as automated "tractors" that navigate the greenhouse to monitor, tend, and harvest crops.
By deploying these precise agricultural technologies, the company’s controlled-environment production model achieves significant resource reductions compared to traditional open-field farming:
Water Reduction: Utilises 92% less water than conventional outdoor methods.
Fertiliser Efficiency: Requires 55% less fertiliser throughout the crop cycle.
Land Savings: Produces equivalent yields using 94% less land area.
The next-generation robotic system funded by this Series C round will introduce automated respacing of growing modules. By automatically adjusting the distance between plants as they mature, the system is designed to maximise spatial efficiency, increase overall greenhouse throughput, and lower production costs per unit.
Hybrid Sourcing Model
The funding coincided with the commercial launch of Hippo Harvest's packaged organic spinach, expanding its year-round leafy greens portfolio.
The brand offers a hybrid supply model, blending its robotic greenhouse-grown varieties with organic field-grown greens. This approach is designed to provide retail partners with consistent volume, broader product variety, and supply chain security against climate-related field disruptions.
The core packaged greens portfolio features two key retail products:
🥬 Butter Lettuce: A tender, indoor-grown loose-leaf variety launched to retail networks in early 2026.
🍃 Organic Spinach: A USDA-certified organic, indoor-grown spinach formulated for consistent leaf size and texture.
Retail Distribution
The Series C funding round was led by Cox Farms, a division of Cox Enterprises, with participation from new and existing institutional backers, including Congruent Ventures, Hawthorne Food Ventures, Collaborative Fund, and the Fresh Investment Club. This follows a $21 million Series B round completed in February 2024, which was led by Standard Investments with participation from the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund and Energy Impact Partners.
According to Eitan Marder-Eppstein, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Hippo Harvest, the investment allows the business to scale its operations to meet retail demand while maintaining price parity with traditional field-grown organic produce.
Hippo Harvest currently distributes its products to major retail chains across Northern California and the Pacific Northwest, including Sprouts, Haggen, and Gus’s Community Markets. The company plans to use the Hollister facility to expand its physical footprint across the West Coast and secure additional national retail partnerships.
