Earthworm is an environmental fund manager focused on backing early-stage and scale-up businesses with positive social and environmental impact across food, energy, and waste.
Laurence brings experience as chief executive across multiple ventures, alongside background in investment management. He currently leads Dineticq as chief executive.
Ben brings clean energy and sustainability experience, having previously founded Groundworks and Earthworm Energy, alongside leadership roles at Effective Energy Group, Beyond Solar, and ECO Edge Commercial.
Earthworm has provided £1.1m in follow-on capital to support Vertical Future in scaling its technology and growing operations.
"Vertical farming will be at the forefront of food production in the years to come; it is poised to help solve one of the biggest issues of our time – how to feed a growing population sustainably. We were impressed by Jamie’s vision and the company’s potential from their seed round and are looking forward to supporting this very special business in its rapid growth."
The London-based food technology company has raised £4m from Earthworm and other backers to build new plant factories and scale production.
"Following several years of hard work, today's raise validates our growth strategy and strong position in the London market, furthering our mission to improve the food and health of urban inhabitants, starting in London"
Earthworm has provided a £2.2m Series B investment to support Weedingtech as it expands its herbicide-free weed control technology internationally.
"We believe the investment from Earthworm recognises two key things. Firstly, the success Weedingtech has had to date supplying the market with a popular and essential alternative to traditional chemical herbicides. And secondly, the global high-growth potential that the herbicide-free sector holds as organisations increasingly look to reduce their reliance on traditional chemical herbicides. Weedingtech was founded on very similar values to Earthworm in that we wanted to develop and supply products that benefit the environment. It’s an exciting time to be in this sector and we are delighted to have a new investor who shares our vision and values."
The Series A round was led by Earthworm with participation from InnoEnergy, Crowdcube, and Centrica to accelerate international expansion and product development.
"At Earthworm we are driven by sustainability and Verv represents a brilliant example of ‘enabling’ technology. Its energy metering, analytics and renewable energy trading platform will help millions to reduce energy consumption, to shift their demand to minimise cost and CO2."
— Will Brocklebank, Head of Projects and Partnerships
