Bowery Farming

Bowery Farming, Inc.

Company type	Private
Industry	Farming, vertical farming, hydroponic farming[1]
Founded	2015[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]

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]

References

1. "NYC indoor farming startup raises $300M from high-profile investors". New York Post. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
2. "Bowery opens its largest farm yet in Baltimore". Fast Company. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
3. "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. "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. "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. "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.

External links

• Bowery Farming CEO Irving Fain on Cheddar TV
• Bowery Farming on CNBC TV
• Bowery Farming CEO on NPR Radio