Vertical farming company Plenty files for bankruptcy after raising nearly $1B

Vertical farming company Plenty has filed for bankruptcy, the company said in a press release on Monday.

In its statement, Plenty said it has received a commitment for $20.7 million in debtor-in-possession financing as part of a proposed restructuring plan. It plans to continue to operate a strawberry farm in Virginia and a plant science research and development (R&D) center in Wyoming. 

Debtor-in-possession financing is financing for firms in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Since its 2014 inception, South San Francisco-based Plenty has raised nearly $1 billion in funding from a variety of investors, including SoftBank Investment Advisers, Walmart, Bezos Expeditions, and Jeff Bezos as an angel investor.

Its last known valuation was $1.9 billion at the time of a $400 million Series E fundraise in January 2022, according to PitchBook. 

The industry has been hard hit by bankruptcies in recent years. In November 2024, agtech unicorn Bowery Farming was reported to be shutting down after raising more than $700 million in funding and last being valued at $2 billion in 2021. And in 2023, AeroFarms and AppHarvest filed for bankruptcy protection. AeroFarms had raised more than $300 million from backers before filing for bankruptcy. In September 2023, it exited bankruptcy protection fully funded.

AppHarvest raised more than $700 million before being taken public in 2021 at a $1 billion valuation; it filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2023.