Foodtech company BlåGrön Odling, which develops systems for in-store cultivation of herbs and lettuce, strengthens its cash position with just over SEK 2 million through a new share issue. The company is now taking the step into the next phase.
The investment is backed by Almi Invest Mitt AB and Sparbanksstiftelsens Norrlands Riskkapitalstiftelse, which are each contributing SEK 750,000. In addition, there are private investors. The money will be used to finance BlåGrön Odling'scontinued establishment on the market.
- "So far we have been able to grow organically, and we now know that we have a working product and a demand. Now we have the opportunity to continue developing both our product and our organization," says Nawras Alashour, Development Manager at BlåGrön Odling.
The business idea is a simple growing system, which can be managed by the store's own staff with service visits from BlåGrön Odling twice a year. The store receives ready-planted trays of seedlings, lets them finish growing, harvests and sells, then sends the tray back. The simplicity contributes to cost efficiency both during start-up and operation.
- "Low cost, medium tech, high yield, i.e. high returns at a low price through relatively simple technology, has always been our principle, and we will continue with it. If something happens, we are there with support and service visits," says Nawras Alashour.
With a working product and satisfied customers, BlåGrön Odling has proven that the business idea works, and secured its largest financing to date.
- "It's a key investment that allows us to put a little more focus on building our own organization while continuing our expansion. In a first stage, we are looking at the market in Norrland, says Nawras Alashour.
BlåGrön Odling has its origins in a project funded by Leader Höga Kusten and the Swedish Board of Agriculture. The project was run by Olof Frensborg and Nawras Alashour and resulted in the formation of BlåGrön Odling AB. The two met when Nawras was newly arrived in Sweden after the refugee wave in 2015. After several years of development and testing, a first version of the cultivation plant was sold in the autumn of 2021, which became the basis for further development. The following year, the company received funding from private investors and an investment of SEK 300,000 from Tregion Startup Invest, an angel investment company that invests in startup companies from BizMaker, Dalarna Science Park and Movexum.
In the spring of 2023, a new version of the cultivation system was launched at ICA in Kvissleby outside Sundsvall, and in 2024 the next facility opened in a store in Östersund.
