Bowery Farming, a leading agtech company backed by General Catalyst, GV, Temasek, and Fidelity Management, is ceasing all operations, according to a document seen by PitchBook and multiple company employees.
All of its employee sites, including its indoor farming facilities, will be closed and employees laid off effective immediately, according to the document.
New York-based Bowery, which at its peak was valued at $2.3 billion, raised venture capital totaling over $700 million from a cohort of leading firms and A-list celebrities including Justin Timberlake, Natalie Portman and Lewis Hamilton.
Promising to modernize the agriculture industry, Bowery partnered with grocery chains including Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh and Albertsons.
The company told staff that it had been actively attempting to secure financing or sell the company, but that it was unsuccessful in reaching a deal.
An email to the company was returned with a notice that the account would be monitored through Nov. 30.
Last year, Bowery made multiple rounds of layoffs and delayed project openings in order to slow its cash burn as it looked to raise venture capital. The company raised $94 million at a $944 million valuation in October 2023, according to PitchBook data, shortly after two of its creditors marked down the value of their loans to the company.
Several prominent indoor farming companies, including AeroFarms, AppHarvest and Kalera, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year. AeroFarms emerged with new leadership and funding in November 2023. Startups in the sector have struggled to finance operations among rising energy costs and a steep decline in VC investment.
James Thorne contributed reporting to this story.
Correction: Bowery last raised in October 2023, not 2024. (Nov. 4, 2024)
Featured image by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty
