Kilometro Verde Aims to Grow by Opening the Capital to a Synergic Partner and through Acquisitions

Kilometro Verde spa, which built and inaugurated in May 2023 the largest vertical farm in Europe in Verolanuova, in the province of Brescia, focuses on acquisitions and opening up capital to third parties to grow and develop its business, including abroad.

Giuseppe Battagliola, founder and main shareholder of the startup in which, in February 2023, Ismea ( Institute of Services for the Agricultural and Food Market ) invested 6 million euros, declared this to Il Corriere della Sera.

The manager controls a large majority in Kilometro Verde (personally 2.88% and, through Altavista sas, 66.82%) while Ismea owns 30.3%. The company produces salad grown with hydroponic cultivation, that is without soil, above ground, with use (and saving) of water and vertical arrangement, indoors.

“We have two projects,” said the entrepreneur. “The first is a joint venture with a large distribution chain or, in general, a synergic partner, we already have contacts. The second is the consolidation of Kilometro Verde,” through a plan that also includes growth through acquisitions.

“We want to create other vertical farms , at least two: one in Europe by the second half of 2025 and one in the United Arab Emirates or the United States in 2026-27,” continued Battagliola, whose company entered the Elite program of Borsa Italiana in May 2024 , an ecosystem that helps small and medium-sized businesses grow and access private and public capital markets, which was launched in 2012 and is now part of the Euronext Group.

Kilometro Verde might go public in the future

Regarding a hypothetical IPO, however, he stated: “We will also evaluate a stock market debut later, but only when we can confirm production with numbers.”

Kilometro Verde closed 2023 with 121.400 euros of total revenues and income and a production value of 1.9 million euros (including increases in fixed assets for internal work), a negative EBITDA of 1.3 million and a loss of 2.3 million, against a net equity of 5.6 million.

The objective declared on the pages of the newspaper in via Solferino is now to close 2024 with 6.5 million in revenues, to “achieve a turnover at constant prices of 16-18 million and a break-even budget in 2025, with a gross operating margin of 30-33%.”

To do so, Kilometro Verde will have to more than double current production

That is why Kilometro Verde’s plant is currently being expanded, with a second production hall scheduled to start in October, which “will lead to increased turnover with an affordable product price.”

The investments required and declared to realize the Battagliola family project, since 2021, have been around 34 million, including the six million obtained from Ismea, of which one in equity and five in convertible bonds. Furthermore, “contributions for supply chain projects financed by the Pnrr for around seven million have been approved,” the disbursement of which is expected within the first half of 2025.

The entrepreneur declared that he has personally invested 20 million in Kilometro Verde, which follows the other activities started previously ( Linea Verde and Dimmidisì ) in the production of fourth range .

Finally, as regards distribution, from December 14th, 2023, it has started in over 700 Coop stores with the Fior Fiore brand, while the other is Petali – the salad that wasn’t there.

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(Featured image by PHUC LONG via Unsplash)

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First published in Be Beez. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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