Bowery Farming Secures $300 Million To Continue US Expansion
Bowery Farming has secured $300 million to continue the expansion of its network of indoor farms across the United States. The company has secured more than $472 million in funding to date, bringing its valuation to $2.3 billion.
The funding will provide resources to accelerate advancements in farm design and the BoweryOS, enabling more and more communities access to a reliable supply of locally-grown produce, year-round.
Accelerating technologies
“This infusion of new capital from Fidelity, other new investors, and the additional support of our long-term investor partners is an acknowledgment of the critical need for new solutions to our current agricultural system," said Irving Fain, CEO and Founder of Bowery Farming.
"Next to that, it's the enormous economic opportunity that comes with supporting our mission. This funding not only fuels our continued expansion but the ongoing development of our proprietary technology, which sits at the core of our business and our ability to rapidly and efficiently scale towards an increasingly important opportunity in front of us.”
“Bowery’s approach to indoor farming represents a meaningful disruption to the traditional produce supply chain, and its systems-based approach to engineering and farm design is unparalleled,” said Andy Wheeler, General Partner at GV. “I look forward to continuing to partner with the Bowery team as they build and scale the largest indoor farming network in the U.S. and bring more sustainable produce to consumers.”
Rapid growth
Now in over 850 grocery stores, Bowery has experienced more than 750% growth since January 2020 at brick-and-mortar retailers like Albertsons Companies, Giant Food, Walmart and Whole Foods Market, and more than quadrupled e-commerce sales through e-commerce platforms, including Amazon Fresh.
In January 2021, Injong Rhee (formerly VP at Google and CTO of Samsung Mobile) joined Bowery as Chief Technology Officer to oversee the seamless integration and ongoing development of technology across the growing network.
The Company is currently transforming an industrial site in Bethlehem, PA into its largest, most technologically advanced and sustainable farm yet, expanding its reach further into the Northeast and Pennsylvania region. Bowery will be breaking ground on additional large-scale commercial farms this year, and is actively engaged in identifying new farm locations in the United States with an eye towards global expansion.
25 May 2021