Bowery Farming, a New York-based vertical farming business, has ceased operations of all its farms based on former employees, confirming the closure(s) as they are actively looking for new jobs. VerticalFarmDaily has requested Bowery to confirm the ceasing of operations to which the company responded they, unfortunately, "cannot comment right now."
Since its foundation back in 2015, the unicorn has secured over 700 million dollars and employed over 500 employees. Back in November 2023, Pitchbook let know that the firm laid off numerous employees due to 'financial struggles'.
Facility closures
Bowery Farming's former headquarters based in the center of Manhattan, New York was up until recently available for rent as LoopNet showed, indicating the business wasn't longer located in its former office.
New Jersey
Bowery Farming operated three commercial farms in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, including one R&D facility in Kearny, NJ. Bowery's former R&D facility in Kearny, located at 10 Basin Drive in New Jersey, has presumably been available for lease since March 31st, 2023 according to Loopnet. Whereas the Bowery Farming Kearny Farm, based at 1 Eastern Road in Kearny, New Jersey, has been available for lease ever since October 22nd, 2024. The facility photos show an empty 197,000 square feet warehouse, insinuating that there are no activities in this facility.
Maryland and Pennsylvania
The Nottingham facility in Maryland has been available for lease since June 7th, 2024. Speculations about Bowery's Bethlehem farm in Pennsylvania have been longer ongoing. Supposedly, the farm has quit operations earlier in the year. Formerly available for rent, the Bethlehem facility is not available for rent anymore as of today.
Retail partnerships
Bowery Farming supplied fresh produce to major retailers at more than 850 locations across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, including Whole Foods and Walmart, while also supporting local fresh produce for various food-delivery services. Other players included Giant Food, Albertson's Companies such as ACME and Safeway stores, and Weis Markets. On top of that, the firm also supplied to e-commerce retailers such as Amazon and Hungryroot.
Producing five salad mixes, four lettuce- and three herb varieties, New York-limited berries, three kits and formerly, retailer-bound Farmer's Selections.
Investor overview
Starting with early backing from SV Angel in its pre-seed round, Bowery gained momentum with seed round investments from First Round Capital, Third Sphere, and others. Series A marked a turning point with General Catalyst as the lead investor, joined by Notable Capital and Google Ventures. Series B saw continued confidence from Temasek Holdings, Notable Capital, and Almanac Insights.
The Series C round brought in celebrity supporters like Lewis Hamilton, José Andrés, Natalie Portman, Chris Paul, and Justin Timberlake, along with established investors such as General Catalyst and Fidelity. Additionally, Bowery secured debt financing with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts leading the way.
For more information:
Bowery
https://bowery.co