Ex-Citi Banker Leaves Family Office for Indoor Farming Firm

(Bloomberg) -- Adam Proctor is departing the family office of billionaire Simon Nixon after less than a year to join a vertical farming business.

Proctor, a former executive at Citigroup Inc.’s private bank, will become chief financial officer of London-based Vertical Future next month. 

Jamie Burrows and his wife Marie-Alexandrine Burrows co-founded Vertical Future in 2016. The provider of vertical farming technology and maker of soil-free farms raised 21 million pounds ($28.6 million) in a series A round this month from investors including Pula, the family office of Stephen Lansdown. 

Proctor started his career more than two decades ago at Barclays Plc. He joined Citigroup’s private bank in 2008 and later became its head of global clients based in London and then head of Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. He became managing director of Nixon’s personal investment and venture capital firms in July. 

Growing crops vertically in cities is gaining traction worldwide as an alternative for conventional farming. The vertical farming industry will more than triple between 2021 and 2026 to almost $10 billion, according to research from MarketsandMarkets.

“I would like to thank Simon Nixon for being so supportive of my move,” said Proctor, who personally invested in Vertical Future in September. “This was too good an opportunity to turn down.”

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