AeroFarms
Newark, United States · Operator: AeroFarms, Inc.
Overview
A Newark, NJ pioneer of indoor vertical farming; after a failed 2021 SPAC listing it ran short of capital and filed Chapter 11 in 2023.
Citizen participation
Consumers only bought packaged produce at retail; no public participation in growing.
Operating model
Commercial B2B/B2C model mass-producing leafy greens and microgreens in indoor vertical racks for retail.
Impact
Heavy capex and high operating costs outran fundraising; only $3.6M unrestricted cash remained at filing. Industry and capital-market headwinds forced bankruptcy and drastic downsizing. Lesson: capital-intensive vertical farms can run out of cash before reaching profitability.
Crops
- leafy greens
- microgreens
Scale
Filed Chapter 11 in June 2023; the entity became 'AF Liquidation, Inc.' and downsized its Newark operations drastically
Sources(2)
This entry is compiled from the public sources, official sites and research below.
Related cases
The Plant Chicago
USChicago, United States
A circular food hub in a former meat plant, housing indoor aquaponic farms and artisanal food tenants.
ourworld.unu.edu+1
Farm.One
USNew York (Brooklyn), United States
A Brooklyn indoor vertical farm growing rare herbs and edible flowers, opened to the public via classes and tours.
prnewswire.com+1
AppHarvest
USMorehead, United States
A large-scale Kentucky indoor-farming startup; opened a 60-acre flagship greenhouse in 2020 but went from Wall Street darling to bankrupt in six years.
agfundernews.com+1
Kalera
USOrlando, United States
An Orlando-based vertical-farming leader with farms in Orlando, Houston, Atlanta and Denver; filed Chapter 11 in April 2023.
thepacker.com+1