Upward and onward

News Summary

  • After three years of economic and other challenges, one imagines that it becomes even harder to convince potential backers to stick out what is ultimately a long runway.The startup is closing up its decade-long project, but the founders point at some potential silver lining.
  • Early companies in the space are going to be the ones focused on driving down unit economics (hopefully) to a point where the technology makes sense from a price perspective.But sometimes being early to a party means you’re among the first to leave.
  • The Brooklyn-based firm recently announced, however, that it has closed up shop.“We found that vertical farming is almost infinitely complex — as we tackled challenges, new ones emerged,” founders Jason Green, Ben Silverman and Matt La Rosa said in an open letter.
  • In many ways, the technology presents hope in the midst of rising food safety concerns, aging populations and potential environmental collapse.
  • “Our team faced these challenges head on, humbly asking ourselves, ‘If not me, who, and if not now, when?’ ”Even in a thriving market, building this stuff is intensely difficult.
  • Last January, we covered what looked to be an important next step for Upward Farms, as the company announced plans to open a 250,000-square-foot farm in Northeastern, Pennsylvania early this year.
The future is very much yet to be written about vertical farming. In many ways, the technology presents hope in the midst of rising food safety concerns, aging populations and potential environmental [+1727 chars]