Plenty Unlimited has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to keep the US-based vertical-farming business afloat as it restructures operations.
The California-based company filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas court as it seeks to “restructure its liabilities, streamline operations and focus its go-forward operations”.
In a statement dated 23 March, Plenty said it has also received a “commitment” for debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing of $20.7m.
Founded in 2014 by Dr Nate Storey and former CEO Matt Barnard, Plenty started out producing leafy greens and herbs in a controlled indoor environment and had partnered with long-time investor and fruit grower Driscoll’s.
The business had recently been branching out into strawberries and entered into a joint venture last year in the UAE with Mawarid Holding Investment, a subsidiary of publicly-listed Alpha Dhabi Holding.
Plenty now aims to focus on the “premium” strawberry market, according to the statement, which named Dan Malech as interim CEO.
Arama Kukutai was appointed to head up the business early in 2022 but it is unclear if he has left the company, with no mention of any departure on his LinkedIn page.
Just Food has asked Plenty to clarify.
Plenty said in the Chapter 11 statement that it will continue operating its vertical strawberry farm in Richmond, California, and its research and development facility in Laramie, Wyoming.
The board-approved bankruptcy filing follows Plenty’s closure of its leafy greens farm in Compton, California, as announced in a LinkedIn post earlier this year, citing a “strategic shift” to strawberries production.
Malech said Plenty “is not immune from larger market dynamics and the fundraising challenges facing our industry”, adding that “after evaluating all of our strategic alternatives, we have determined that pursuing this restructuring process is in the best interests of all of the company’s stakeholders”.
In 2023, Plenty entered an agreement with real estate investment trust Realty Income for up to $1bn in development funding for the firm’s indoor vertical farms.
US retail giant Walmart joined a $400m Series E investment round in 2022, building on $140m of Series D financing secured in 2020, which at the time took Plenty’s total funding to $500m.
With the venture with Mawarid Holding, Plenty planned to build five vertical farms in the UAE focused on strawberry production over five years.
The total investment for the project was estimated at Dh2.5bn ($680.7m), with the first farm in Abu Dhabi valued at Dh500m.
