Greenfield-based Husk LLC has been acquired by another Hoosier company in the agriculture innovation space. The food brand and processing business is now owned by Lifeline Farms LLC, an organic vegetable operation in Connersville.
In a news release, Husk says Lifeline Farms intends to further vertically integrate the business into its existing vegetable production and processing enterprise.
Lifeline Farms was launched by serial technology entrepreneur Alex Carroll in 2014 in the Fayette County city to grow produce using what it calls “the most modern, ecologically sound techniques known producing a nearly zero waste food production movement.” When the farm was first announced, Carroll said the business could grow to include as many as 100 workers. Carroll is also co-owner of Indianapolis-based Lifeline Data Centers LLC, which has a presence in central Indiana and Fort Wayne.
Husk co-founders Chris Baggott and Nick Carter have also announced their next food startup, FarmersMarket.com. The company will set up “Market Hosts” in Hoosier communities that will be supplied by local farmers and artisans. These locations will be the pick up sites for online customers. FarmersMarket.com says the goal is to “overcome certain obstacles to local food access that existing food systems such as grocery stores inherently present.”
Baggott, a co-founder and former ExactTarget executive was the Trailblazer in Technology award winner at last year’s Mira Awards. His ventures also include Tyner Pond Farms in Greenfield and The Mug, a drive-in restaurant focusing on locally-sourced foods that is also located in the Hancock County city.
Carter has focused on the distribution side of the industry and is founder of central Indiana-based Meat the Rabbit LLC, a farm-raised small game meat supplier.