Bowery Farming
New York, United States · Operator: Bowery Farming Inc.
Overview
Once valued at $2.3B and celebrity-backed, one of America's largest vertical-farming startups; announced closure of all facilities in November 2024.
Citizen participation
Company-run mass production; no public participation.
Operating model
Commercial model running software-controlled indoor vertical farms to mass-produce greens for US retailers.
Impact
Despite raising over $700M plus $150M debt from KKR, high operating and energy costs and the inability to secure new funding or a buyer forced it to cease operations. Lesson: even huge fundraising fails when unit economics don't work and operating costs consume the cash.
Crops
- leafy greens
Scale
Ceased operations in November 2024; laid off 187 workers and entered an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) process
Sources(2)
This entry is compiled from the public sources, official sites and research below.
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