Plenty, a once-promising vertical farming startup, has officially filed for bankruptcy, marking another blow to the struggling indoor agriculture sector. The South San Francisco-based company confirmed the news in a press release on Monday, revealing it secured $20.7 million in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing to support its operations through the restructuring process.
Despite the bankruptcy, Plenty plans to keep two of its key facilities running—a strawberry farm located in Virginia and its plant science research and development center in Wyoming. This lifeline is part of a broader restructuring effort aimed at salvaging the company’s remaining assets while navigating Chapter 11 protection.
Debtor-in-possession financing provides short-term funding for companies under Chapter 11, allowing them to stay afloat while restructuring debts.
Founded in 2014, Plenty once stood out as a pioneer in the vertical farming space. Over the years, the startup attracted nearly $1 billion in funding from major backers, including SoftBank Investment Advisers, Walmart, and Bezos Expeditions. Jeff Bezos also personally invested as an angel investor, reflecting early confidence in Plenty’s potential to revolutionize agriculture.
At its peak, Plenty hit a staggering $1.9 billion valuation during its $400 million Series E funding round in January 2022, according to data from PitchBook. However, the company’s ambitious expansion plans have since collided with the harsh realities of the capital-intensive agtech industry.
Plenty’s bankruptcy highlights the broader challenges haunting vertical farming startups, many of which have faced similar financial pressures. In recent years, the sector has seen several high-profile collapses as companies struggled to turn promising technologies into sustainable businesses.
In November 2024, Bowery Farming—a well-known agtech unicorn—was reportedly shutting down operations after raising over $700 million from investors. The company had reached a $2 billion valuation in 2021 but couldn’t escape the industry’s growing financial strain.
Similarly, AeroFarms and AppHarvest both filed for bankruptcy protection in 2023. AeroFarms, known for its leafy green production, raised more than $300 million before filing but managed to exit bankruptcy fully funded by September that year.
AppHarvest also burned through over $700 million before going public in 2021 at a $1 billion valuation. However, that success was short-lived. By 2023, the company had filed for Chapter 11 protection, joining the growing list of indoor farming ventures struggling to survive.
These bankruptcies reflect a hard truth about the vertical farming industry—high operational costs, complex technology, and challenging unit economics continue to hamper profitability. While the sector promised sustainable food production and efficient land use, scaling these futuristic farms has proven to be a monumental task.
Plenty’s downfall signals that even with heavyweight investors and nearly a billion dollars in funding, vertical farming remains a risky and volatile space. As the industry searches for a path forward, the focus may shift toward more efficient models and a hard reset on what it takes to grow food profitably indoors.
