Current investors S2G Ventures, Acre Venture Partners, John Foraker, and Fund Good Jobs led the round, alongside new investor Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed, a prominent sustainable food and ag investor
Back to the Roots, the nation’s fastest growing organic gardening company based in Oakland, California, has closed a new round of financing to fuel the rapid growth of its line of 100% U.S. grown seeds. The capital will be used to scale up national distribution and marketing for the seed packet line, as well as support the continued growth of its small-space gardening kits.
The latest fundraising round was led by current investors S2G Ventures and Acre Venture Partners, with participation from John Foraker, and Fund Good Jobs. Prominent sustainable food industry investor Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, who has been at the forefront of the tech and plant-based revolution with investments in Memphis Meats, Rebellyous Foods, and BlueNalu, has also joined the round through his innovation fund KBW Ventures.
“Our investors aren’t just investing in Back to the Roots, they’re investing in a future of gardening where every kid can experience the magic of growing their own food and learning about where it comes from,” said co-founder and co-CEO Nikhil Arora. “We are building the garden brand for a new generation and we’re grateful for our investor’s continued support as we work to bring our products and mission into every home and classroom in the country. ”
Back to the Roots, which aims to make gardening accessible to growers of all experience levels and in all types of living environments, first launched a pilot version of its seed packet program this past spring in 100 The Home Depot stores. This coming spring, the program is branching out to The Home Depot stores across the U.S. and launching nationwide in Albertsons and H-E-B supermarkets.
The seed line is the first national 100% U.S. grown retail seed packet program in the country—a designation that’s especially valuable following Amazon’s recent ban on the sale of foreign seeds into the United States. The spring 2020 pilot seed program included 92 varieties of fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers, all of which are organic and non-GMO.
“As we expand our packet seed program, we’re also excited to help shine a light on the incredible American farmers growing our seeds and dedicating themselves to taking care of the land,” said Back to the Roots co-founder and co-CEO Alejandro Velez. “The incredible momentum of our new seed packet program has proven that consumers want transparency in where their seeds are coming from, and we’re excited to keep pushing that forward, leading the industry.”
Back to the Roots’ seed program isn’t the only thing that’s growing. The company continues to expand its line of gardening kits with four new products—a self-watering succulent kit, and three kids grow kits — launching in Walmart and Lowe’s this fall. Back to the Roots’ gardening products, which range from easy-to-use indoor herb & veggie grow kits to mushroom kits to aquaponic systems, are sold in over 10,000 stores nationwide, BacktotheRoots.com and on Amazon.
Related: Two KBW Ventures portfolio companies listed in CNBC’s Disruptor 50
