Documented cause
AeroFarms was founded in 2004 around aeroponic growing technology developed at Cornell University, with David Rosenberg as CEO and Marc Oshima as co-founder and CMO. The company's central idea was elegant: grow leafy greens year-round in vertically stacked layers inside former industrial buildings, using 95% less water than conventional farming, with no pesticides, near consumer markets, eliminating the supply chain from farm to table. The pitch resonated deeply with ESG investors, sustainability funds, and food security narratives. By 2015, AeroFarms had converted a 70,000-square-foot former steel mill in Newark, New Jersey — the world's largest indoor vertical farm at the time — and attracted investment from IKEA Group, Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, Prudential Financial, and others, raising a total of $238 million. The product was real: leafy greens marketed under the Dream Greens brand were sold in Whole Foods, ShopRite, and other premium grocery retailers. The problem was mathematics. Electricity for year-round artificial lighting is expensive. Building out vertical farming infrastructure requires massive capital expenditure for each new facility. Labor costs in controlled environment agriculture are high. Leafy greens are a low-margin commodity. The unit economics — the actual cost per pound of produce — could not compete with California field-grown lettuce at scale. In 2021, AeroFarms attempted to go public via SPAC merger with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp at an implied valuation of approximately $1.2 billion, but the deal collapsed. The company continued raising debt financing. On May 9, 2023, AeroFarms filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Dream Holdings (formerly Dream Entertainment) acquired the company's assets for approximately $9 million in July 2023, with approximately 400 employees affected.
Alternative account: AeroFarms was one of the oldest vertical farming companies in the world, pioneering aeroponic growing systems (misting plant roots with nutrient solution without soil or sunlight) in repurposed warehouses and industrial buildings. The Newark, NJ headquarters converted a former steel mill into a flagship vertical farm, generating significant press for its combination of urban agriculture and community impact. AeroFarms raised $238M, attempted a SPAC merger in 2021 that failed to close when investor interest was insufficient, and continued operating on private funding. The company faced the same fundamental economics as all vertical farming startups: energy costs made per-unit economics unworkable for commodity produce. Despite innovative aeroponic technology that used less water than hydroponic systems, the electricity requirements for LED lighting at scale remained the unresolvable bottleneck. AeroFarms filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2023 — two months before Bowery filed Chapter 7. Key assets were sold in bankruptcy proceedings.