The future is not yet written for vertical farming. In many ways, technology offers hope in the midst of growing concerns about food safety, an aging population, and potential environmental collapse. It’s also a very tough struggle, as it were. The first companies in the space will be those that focus on lowering unit economics (hopefully) to the point where the technology makes sense from a price perspective.
But sometimes getting to a party early means you’re among the first to leave. This past January, we covered what seemed to be an important next step for Upward Farms, as the company announced plans to open a 250,000-square-foot farm in Northeastern, Pennsylvania early this year. But the Brooklyn-based company recently announced that it was closing its doors.
“We’ve found vertical farming to be almost infinitely complex — as we tackle challenges, new ones have emerged,” founders Jason Green, Ben Silverman, and Matt La Rosa said in an open letter. “Our team faced these challenges head on, humbly asking, ‘If not me, then who, and if not now, when? “”
Even in a booming market, building these things is very difficult. After three years of economic and other challenges, one imagines it is becoming increasingly difficult to persuade potential backers to stick with what is ultimately a long road.
The startup is shutting down its decade-old venture, but the founders point to some potential silver linings. They noted, “While Upward Farms closes its doors, a small portion of our team will continue to work to unlock the magic of the microbiome. In the months ahead, we’ll have even more to share.”
There are still plenty of big names in the space, including Bowery and AeroFarms. It probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the herd will wane a bit, until the path to success becomes clearer. In the meantime, the Upward team may have valuable innovations it can share with a potential industry partner.