ONCE secures large investment for animal lighting

ONCE Innovations, the developer of animal specific LED Lighting Systems, announced the successful completion of a $5.3 million Series A Equity Capital Round.

The round was led by New Fashion Pork (NFP) of Jackson, MN, the Ag Ventures Alliance of Mason City, Iowa, Lateral Capital of Minneapolis, MN and ONCE founder and CEO, Zdenko Grajcar. The round also included a number of angel investors. Concurrent with this round, ONCE also announced that it reached an additional agreement with leading investors which gives ONCE access to future growth capital in excess of $14 million.

“The ONCE Team is working on the frontiers of science, in areas never researched before,” stated Zdenko Grajcar, CEO of ONCE. “We are working on new concepts and technologies which significantly depart from mainstream, orthodox theories. We are discovering new, essential roles animal-specific lighting plays in every animal’s life. We are discovering that lighting can not only impact, but it can actually direct animal growth and development. We are developing technologies which can help a growing world produce more food at lower costs. This research, and the company we are building around it, would not happen without the help of investors who supported us at this vital stage,” Grajcar concluded.

Commenting on the investment, ONCE President Brian Wilcox added, “The completion of our Series A financing is a very important milestone for ONCE. This new financing represents the most substantial investment ever in Agricultural lighting. What’s more important is the vote of confidence represented by our lead investor, New Fashion Pork. NFP is a one of the largest and fastest growing swine producers in the US and this investment is strong recognition of the potential for performance-enhancing lighting in the food production industry. With the support of NFP, we are determined to fundamentally change the role of lighting within Agriculture.”