Area 2 Farms Advances Construction of Farms, Completes $9 Million Financing Led by Slow Ventures and 776
Alexis Ohanian is publicly recruiting farmers, as Area 2 Farms is advancing the construction of soil-based, farmer-owned farms within a 10-mile radius of most Americans, supported by 776.
The company operates a soil-based indoor vertical farming system instead of hydroponics, utilizing spaces like vacant urban warehouses, supplying leafy greens, root vegetables, herbs, and microgreens to residents within 10 miles through a community-supported agriculture model. The pilot farm is located in Arlington, Virginia, having delivered over 20,000 harvests and served more than 1,000 families, and is currently expanding to areas like Fairfax.
Area 2 Farms has launched a franchising model, with an initial investment of approximately $308,000 to $471,000 per store, employing 6 to 8 staff members, targeting markets in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and plans to cover 90% of the U.S. population with farms. The company was founded by Oren Falkowitz, a former NSA and Cyber Command personnel, whose previous companies were acquired by Amazon and Cloudflare.
In terms of financing, Area 2 Farms has completed a $9 million funding round led by Slow Ventures and 776, with funds allocated for technological infrastructure, real estate partnerships, and franchising expansion. The products are USDA certified organic, primarily using coconut coir and proprietary compost, with an annual harvest cycle of 51 weeks, and subscription shares priced at approximately $35 to $45 per week.
Ohanian previously stated that there are issues within the U.S. food system and has invested millions to support this model, while also building a family farm in Florida to supply fresh produce like strawberries and corn for his family.
Capital is flowing from venture capital funds into local modular farm franchises, driven by the recruitment of farmers and franchising expansion, with funds entering urban vacant space renovations and direct-to-consumer supply chains. Local farmer owners and neighborhood consumers benefit from freshness and ownership, while traditional long-distance transportation and large distributors face pressure.
Source: Public Information
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After co-founding Reddit, Alexis Ohanian established Initialized Capital and exited, setting up 776 in 2021 focused on early-stage projects, having invested in nutrition tech company Simulate, while also building a family farm in Florida for family consumption, reflecting a shift from platform entrepreneurship to a focus on physical infrastructure. Oren Falkowitz previously founded Sqrrl, which was acquired by Amazon, and Area 1 Security was acquired by Cloudflare for about $162 million, transitioning from cybersecurity to soil agriculture.
776 and Slow Ventures jointly invested $9 million in Area 2 Farms to convert modular soil vertical farms into a franchised network, directing funds towards urban vacant real estate renovations, standardized growing systems, and community subscription models, motivated by the desire to shorten transportation distances and allow local farmers to own their operations, creating replicable neighborhood infrastructure.
Similar cases include networked farm models by Driscoll’s, Land O’Lakes, and Ocean Spray, with value concentrated in local operators, contrasting with the path of high-capital automated vertical farms like AeroFarms, which significantly contracted after 2021. The industry is currently transitioning from pilot validation to franchising expansion, recruiting farmers to achieve scale through low technical barriers.
This essentially represents a restructuring of the supply chain: production shifts from distant centralized farms to urban proximal soil systems, ownership transitions from external investors to local farmer operators, with the mechanism being that transportation costs exceed local construction costs, and consumer willingness to pay supports short-chain freshness and traceability, thereby compressing profits in traditional distribution channels.
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