Indoor agriculture company Local Bounti secured additional cash to fund working capital as part of its amended credit facility with Cargill Financial Services. Under the terms of the amended facility, Cargill agreed to provide Local Bounti with $15 million of working capital, the aggregate amount of which includes $5 million more than the company’s previously stated expectation. The company continues to pursue opportunities to lower its cost of capital and evaluate opportunities for construction financing to supplement or replace existing debt.
“As we transition into 2024, our team is energized and has its sights set on becoming the most efficient CEA produce company in the industry,” Craig Hurlbert, CEO of Local Bounti, said. “We have made incredible progress with the development of our stack and flow technology, now on full display at our Georgia facility where it has enabled us to double run-rate production. This integration has been instrumental in improving our crop quality and turns at the facility resulting in a step change in shipment volume.
“Stack and flow is also the centerpiece of our upcoming openings at new greenfield facilities in Washington and Texas by the end of January. With these facilities in place, we will have a national network of growing facilities that can efficiently serve our customers with added capacity to meet customer demand for other leafy green varieties and value-added SKUs. We have high expectations for these facilities and our new product innovation initiatives and look forward to demonstrating our focus on execution in the year ahead.”
“We are pleased with the ongoing support of our lender and their flexibility in structuring a credit facility that allows us to continue scaling the business in a fashion that will allow us to achieve our goals,” Kathleen Valiasek, CFO of Local Bounti, said. “We continue to focus on operational efficiency across our organization and have made important strides in controlling costs. With an optimized organization, capital resources, and a strong innovation pipeline in place, we believe Local Bounti is poised for a breakout year in 2024.”
