New York-Based Indoor Farming Startup Bowery Secures $90 Million

By Noah Long ● Dec 17, 2018

Bowery, a New York-based indoor farming startup company, has raised $90 million in Series B funding led by Google’s venture capital arm GV. Temasek, First Round Capital, GGV, General Catalyst, and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi also participated in this round.

With this round of funding, Bowery is going to set up “multiple farms” by the end of 2019. And it will also support new hires and additional technology investments used on its farms.

“We plan to continue to build additional farms to scale our operation, keeping them all close to the point of consumption in densely populated areas in order to deliver Bowery produce at the height of freshness and flavor within a few days of harvest,” said Bowery co-founder and CEO Irving Fain via Xconomy.

Launched in 2015, Bowery combines software and sensors to grow herbs and greens in controlled indoor environments. And to grow the herbs and greens, it only requires a fraction of the water that is needed by conventional agriculture. Plus no pesticides are needed.

Bowery raised $20 million in Series A last year and the company opened another indoor farm in Kearny, New Jersey. The new farm produced 30 times more compared to the first farm it opened.

Bowery’s product line includes leafy green products such as arugula, butterhead lettuce, romaine, bok choy, basil, and lettuce mixes (spring blend, kale mix, and sweet and spicy mix). The company is also planning to add mustard greens, wasabi arugula, and Thai basil to the product line.

The produce is sold through Whole Foods stores in New York along with a number of regional grocers. And the company will partner with large national grocers as it expands.