Bowery Farming

Last updated
Bowery Farming, Inc.
Company type Private
Industry Farming, vertical farming, hydroponic farming [1]
Founded2015 [2]
Headquarters
New York, New York [3]
,
United States
Areas served
 United States
Key people
Irving Fain [4]
Website boweryfarming.com

Bowery Farming was a New York-based vertical farming and digital agriculture company with farms in New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. [2] [5] It grew and delivered pesticide-free lettuce, leafy greens, and herbs. [3] [6] [7] The largest vertical farming operation in the United States, it served major retailers at over 850 locations throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, including Whole Foods and Walmart, and supported local, fresh produce supply for a number of food-delivery companies. [8] [9]

Contents

History

Bowery Farming was founded in 2015 by entrepreneur Irving Fain, who earlier in his career co-founded CrowdTwist, acquired by Oracle Corporation for $100 million. [10] Irving brought on entrepreneurs David Golden and Brian Falther as cofounders. [11] Henry Sztul, joined shortly after as part of the founding team and led the development of the BoweryOS; he now served as the company’s Chief Science Officer. [12] The company raised a total of $472 million from Google Ventures, General Catalyst, GGV Capital and Temasek. Its latest round of funding in 2021 was led by Fidelity Investments. [3] Investors in the company include Lewis Hamilton, Tom Colicchio, Chris Paul, José Andrés, Justin Timberlake, and Natalie Portman. [13] [14] [15]

In 2021, Bowery opened Farm X, an innovation hub for plant science in Kearny, N.J., to grow crops beyond leafy greens and focusing on seed breeding specifically for indoor farming. [16] The company added a third commercial smart farm in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 2021. [17]

Bowery Farming operated three commercial farms and two R&D facilities in Kearny, NJ. [16] [3] [18] It grew its produce inside industrial warehouses in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, using proprietary technology and vertical farming techniques, and without pesticides and minimal water footprint. [6] Its locally grown products were delivered to Whole Foods Market, Giant Food, Walmart, Albertson's Companies (ACME and Safeway stores), and Weis Markets, among others. [19] Bowery Farming also supported Hungryroot and Amazon delivery options. [18]

Bowery Farming's technology relied on automation, sensors, robotics, AI and a proprietary operating system, BoweryOS, that took photos of crops and analyzes data in real time. [20] [21] [22] The company hired former Samsung Chief Technologist, Injong Rhee, to accelerate the integration of Bowery's proprietary technology across its network of vertical smart farms. [23] In 2022, the company bought farming robotics firm, Traptic, especially for vine crops. [24]

Bowery Farming ceased operations in November 2024, laying off staff at facilities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. [25] [26] The company faced financial difficulties, probably because of weak demand for its high-priced products and yield losses caused by widespread infection of a plant disease in several facilities. [27] [28]

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References

  1. ↑ "NYC indoor farming startup raises $300M from high-profile investors". New York Post. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Bowery opens its largest farm yet in Baltimore". Fast Company. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Indoor vertical farming startup Bowery Farming raises $300 mln". Reuters. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  4. ↑ "How Bowery Farming Is Making Fresh Food More Accessible". Inc. magazine. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  5. ↑ "Restaurants, food retailers head indoors for produce amid water shortages and food security concerns". Fox Business. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  6. 1 2 "The war for your salad bowl: Is this Natalie Portman's favorite kale?". Fortune. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  7. ↑ "Bowery's Founder, Irving Fain, on the Future of Vertical Farming". The Spoon. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  8. ↑ "Indoor Farming Company, Bowery, Raises $300M". TechCrunch. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  9. ↑ "Vertical Farming Company Bowery Raises 300M, Valuing Firm at 2.3B". Food Dive. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  10. ↑ "Vertical Farming Gets Real". Forbes. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  11. ↑ "Tech Companies to Watch in 2018". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  12. ↑ "Hacking lettuce for taste and profit". TechCrunch. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  13. ↑ "Natalie Portman, Other Celebs, Invest in Vertical Farming Startup Bowery". Treehugger. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  14. ↑ "Justin Timberlake among new backers of US vertical-farmer Bowery Farming". Just Food News. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  15. ↑ "Natalie Portman, Justin Timberlake invest in Bowery Farming's $300 million funding round". The Business Journals. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  16. 1 2 "Bowery Farming opens innovation hub in Kearny". NJ Business. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  17. ↑ "Bowery Farming to Create 70 Jobs with New Bethlehem Facility". Lehigh Valley Economic Development. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  18. 1 2 "Albertsons adds Bowery vertically farmed produce". Supermarket News. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  19. ↑ "Albertsons Extends Protected Produce Partnership With Vertical Farmer". Progressive Grocer. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  20. ↑ "Vertical farms nailed tiny salads. Now they need to feed the world". Wired. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  21. ↑ "No Soil. No Growing Seasons. Just Add Water and Technology". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  22. ↑ "Farm Startup With Ties to NYC History Hits $2.3 Billion in Value". Bloomberg, Inc. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  23. ↑ "Bowery CTO Injong Rhee on the grand challenge of AI for indoor farming". VentureBeat. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  24. ↑ "The Lowdown: Bowery's strawberry bot buyout". Ag Funder News. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  25. ↑ Nguyen, Danny (6 November 2024). "Baltimore County loses 83 jobs as vertical lettuce farm closes". The Baltimore Banner. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  26. ↑ Primack, Dan (5 November 2024). "Vertical farming "unicorn" Bowery to shut down". Axios. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  27. ↑ "Bowery, once a leading indoor farming company valued at $2.3B, shuts down". PitchBook. 2024-11-01. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
  28. ↑ "Wilted greens: How a leaf-eating pathogen, failed deals brought down Bowery Farming". PitchBook. 2024-11-08. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
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