Bowery Farming

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]

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

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]