Bowery Farming, a vertical farming company, secured a $150 million credit facility led by private credit accounts managed by KKR.
Bowery Farming will use the funding to expand its network of smart indoor farms beyond the East Coast. The funding brings its total debt and equity capital raised to more than $647 million. KKR’s credit investment follows Bowery Farming’s $325 million Series C funding in 2021, which was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company.
Bowery Farming also announced that it is building two new farms serving the Atlanta and Dallas metro areas. Both farms are expected to open in Q1/23.
“We’re thrilled to announce our expansion beyond the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions,” Irving Fain, CEO and founder of Bowery Farming, said. “KKR’s support is a testament to the proven success of our business model and a strong vote of confidence in our technology leadership and ability to address critical challenges in the current agricultural system. There is enormous economic opportunity that comes with supporting our mission to democratize access to local, pesticide-free protected produce, and now we are ready to continue our growth more rapidly.”
The new financing will also provide resources to accelerate advancements in farm design and BoweryOS, giving more communities access to a reliable supply of locally-grown produce all year. The BoweryOS integrates software, hardware, sensors, computer vision systems, artificial intelligence and robotics to orchestrate and automate operations.
“We are excited to support Bowery’s pioneering efforts in vertical farming, which are directly contributing to the resiliency of our food supply,” Michelle Hour, director at KKR, said. “We believe that Bowery has the right commercial model, technology and team to capitalize on the rapidly growing consumer demand for sustainably-sourced food, and we look forward to helping the company continue to innovate and scale to benefit communities across the United States.”
