Key Takeaways
- Indoor farming trends in 2025 show a shift from rapid expansion toward consolidation and operational discipline.
- Indoor farming activity in 2025 remained steady, with 188 tracked announcements across funding, partnerships, products, and restructurings.
- Capital deployment continued but shifted toward early- and mid-stage companies, reflecting tighter investor expectations.
- Partnerships emerged as the most frequent strategic activity, highlighting integration over rapid expansion.
- Vertical farming faced ongoing financial pressure, while greenhouse and hybrid CEA models showed greater resilience.
- Crop activity continued to be led by leafy greens, with tomatoes and strawberries gaining traction as higher-value categories.
Indoor Farming Trend 1: Consolidation Rather Than Expansion
The indoor farming and controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) sector entered 2025 in a markedly different position compared to the peak years of 2019–2022. According to data compiled in the Indoor Farming Trends in 2025 report, the year was characterized less by aggressive expansion and more by consolidation, operational focus, and selective capital deployment.
A total of 188 verified announcements were recorded globally in 2025, spanning funding rounds, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, product launches, leadership appointments, and bankruptcies. While this level of activity indicates continued momentum, it also reflects a sector adjusting to more constrained capital markets and higher expectations around unit economics.
Indoor Farming Trend 2: Funding Activity Shows Selectivity
Disclosed funding in indoor farming reached approximately $290 million in 2025, with nearly three-quarters of rounds occurring at Seed to Series B stages. Later-stage financings were limited, underscoring investor caution toward capital-intensive scaling models. The United States, Canada, and the Netherlands accounted for the majority of disclosed investment, while activity in Asia and the Middle East remained underreported rather than absent.
Valuations also continued to reset. The report estimates an average valuation cut of around 35% compared to 2021–2022 levels, signaling a recalibration rather than a withdrawal of investor interest.
Indoor Farming Trend 3: Partnerships Take Center Stage
Partnerships were the most common type of announcement in 2025, reflecting a strategic shift toward integration and collaboration. Many of these agreements focused on automation, climate control, and system interoperability rather than greenfield expansion.
This emphasis on operational efficiency is echoed by industry operators. Michael Taylor of The Blackmore Company noted that integrating greenhouse and tray systems allowed the company to “cut labor in half — and at the same time increase the proportion of healthy, packable trees,” changing how performance is evaluated at scale.
Vertical Farming Under Pressure
Despite continued innovation, vertical farming accounted for the majority of the 14 bankruptcies recorded in 2025. Several affected companies had previously raised substantial capital, highlighting the challenges of achieving profitability in high-CAPEX models. At the same time, consolidation accelerated as stronger players acquired distressed assets or merged to stabilize operations.
Corenthin (Felix) Chassouant of Harnois Greenhouses observed that improved system integration is increasingly tied to economic outcomes, noting that efficiency gains can materially improve yield and cost structures in controlled environments.
Access the Full Indoor Farming Trends In 2025
This article reflects a high-level snapshot of findings from the Indoor Farming Trends in 2025 report. The complete report includes detailed charts, regional breakdowns, crop analysis, and company-level data.
👉 Download the full report here: https://network.igrownews.com/forms/ac0f9cc6
