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Brightfarms Plans To Reach Most U.S. Major Markets by 2025 Cox Enterprises Assumes Majority Ownership
Brightfarms Plans To Reach Most U.S. Major Markets by 2025 Cox Enterprises Assumes Majority Ownership
IRVINGTON, N.Y. (Oct. 20, 2020) – BrightFarms, a leading next-generation indoor farming company
supplying U.S. grocery retailers with packaged salad greens, has secured more than $100 million in debt
and new equity capital to support robust expansion plans. The Series E round of funding was led by Cox
Enterprises, which now owns a majority stake in the company, and includes a follow-on investment from
growth equity firm Catalyst Investors. BrightFarms will use the funds to invest in its current farms and
retail programs and expand its network of regional indoor farms across the U.S.
BrightFarms has raised more than $200 million in funding to date to build the nation’s first brand of locally
grown produce and has established close partnerships with leading retailers such as Ahold Delhaize, Kroger
and Walmart. BrightFarms currently distributes its products to more than 2,000 stores in the U.S. and
expects to expand its distribution to more than 15,000 stores by 2025. The company has indoor farming
operations in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, with three new farms currently under development
in North Carolina, Massachusetts and Texas.
BrightFarms is a leader in the rapidly growing indoor farming industry, a movement that seeks to disrupt
the conventional produce industry by replacing the complex long-distance West Coast supply chain. Its
growing methods use 80% less water, 90% less land and 95% less shipping fuel than traditional agriculture.
A BrightFarms indoor farm yields 10 times more leafy greens per acre when compared to growing in a
field. By growing its produce closer to consumers, BrightFarms delivers fresher, pesticide-free packaged
greens to supermarkets in as little as 24 hours after harvest, about a week faster than leafy greens grown
conventionally on the West Coast.
“Our goal over the next five years is to make quality, locally-grown greens a staple on grocery shelves and
in refrigerators nationwide,” said Steve Platt, CEO of BrightFarms. “We are thrilled to have the strong
financial backing of Cox Enterprises, an organization that closely aligns with our mission to build a
healthier and more sustainable future, and to have the additional support of our long-term partners at
Catalyst Investors. Together we are ready to scale our model for local indoor farming in every major
market in the U.S.”
BrightFarms’ vision for next-generation agriculture – a sustainable, scalable and disruptive model – closely
aligns with the Cox Cleantech objectives and ethos.
“Cox Cleantech’s goal is to build meaningful businesses that solve fundamental problems facing society
and our environment,” said Steve Bradley, vice president of cleantech for Cox Enterprises. “BrightFarms
provides this opportunity through its sustainable model of growing food in the same communities where
it’s consumed, resulting in food that’s fresher, safer, better tasting and better for the environment.”
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About BrightFarms
BrightFarms is a leading provider of locally grown packaged salads, serving the freshest, tastiest and most responsibly grown produce to
consumers nationwide. BrightFarms operates hydroponic greenhouse farms in the communities it serves, enabling it to eliminate time, distance,
and costs from the food supply chain. BrightFarms’ growing methods, a model for the future of scalable, sustainable local farming, use far less
energy, land and water than long distance, field-grown agriculture. Forbes has recognized BrightFarms as one of the “100 Most Consumer
Centric Companies” and Fast Company has recognized BrightFarms as “One of World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies” and one of the “Top
10 Most Innovative Companies in Food.” BrightFarms is funded by leading investors Cox Enterprises, Catalyst Investors, WP Global Partners
and NGEN Partners. For more information, please visit www.brightfarms.com.