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bne March 2021 Companies & Markets I 21
industry and as a dye in the textile industry," said David Friedenberg, Saffron Tech CEO, in a press release.
He added: "It is considered the 'Red Gold', worth its weight in gold. We are about to revolutionize the way saffron is grown, growing it all year round and anywhere with our indoors growing technology."
Promoting its project to develop the “technology that hopes to provide turnkey automated growing solutions”, the company added that it has reached the “advanced stages of developing and testing its automated vertical farm for saffron growing, based on the company’s knowledge in plant biology and providing optimal conditions for each stage of the plant’s development to reach optimal product quality”.
Saffron Tech added that its solution would be a perfect fit for
Romanian property rental platform Milluu raises money to expand in Poland
bne IntelliNews
Romanian property management startup Milluu managed to race past its fundraising target in just three hours. The final investment total reached €884,000, €100,000 above the target, in the largest funding round raised so far through the SeedBlink platform.
Following the new round of financing, the company's valuation will amount to €4.25mn, and by the end of 2021, the company proposes to have over 900 apartments in its portfolio.
At the end of 2021, the company expects to have a valuation of over €10mn, with a turnover of over €2.5mn and recurring annual revenues of €500,000.
The company initially planned to raise €784,000 in the current round of financing, out of which €230,000 was earmarked for Seedblink investors, other than the existing owners.
“Although we were initially targeting €784,000 euros, we reached €884,000 within about three hours of the crowdfunding campaign launch. First of all, we would like to thank our partners Early Game Ventures, ROCA X, #NetopiaInvestments, Simple Capital, Growceanu, angel
the "Grow Next to Consumer" model and sustainable and fit for COVID-19 restrictions on transport.
The company added: “It is environmentally friendly, using economic levels of water, space, fertilizer, and energy. We believe that our controlled indoor growing technology could produce 10 times more yield compared to the same land area using traditional methods. The sealed environment eliminates the need for harmful pesticides and herbicides, producing
a clean and safe product. The solution is easily scalable and pre-designed to quickly grow operations.”
Saffron Tech also focuses on cultivating exotic plants and mushrooms.
Seedo said its knowhow takes into account the world’s “dimin- ishing water resources and unstable weather conditions”.
investors, as well as over 80 investors who invested in us on SeedBlink and trusted that we can make Milluu a landmark in the real estate rental market. Keep an eye on us!” the company wrote on Facebook.
Existing investors – local venture capital funds Early Game Ventures (EGV) and RocaX, and other investment funds such as Simple Capital, Netopia Investments, Growceanu, and several angel investors – confirmed their participation in the round and contributed €454,000 (versus €404,000 initially announced).
The founders also extended a €150,000 financing through convertible loans.
Milluu is the first company in the Early Game Ventures portfolio to be listed on SeedBlink. It will use the money to support growth in the local market and expand its property management services in Poland.
Milluu is founded and run by Florin Stoian, an entrepreneur who previously founded StarTaxi, sold to World Com Trading in 2012, and Yellow Menu, which received an investment of €300,000 in 2019.
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