Total raised averaged per day over approximately 19.0 years from founding to bankruptcy or shutdown. This is not measured cash burn. Methodology
Funding: Crunchbase
Current status
Chapter 11 (Jun 2023); emerged Sept 2023 as a smaller private company
The rise & fall
7 moments Β· 2004β2023
The key moments, with employee sentiment along the way.
2004
π±
2004
Founded, two decades before the hype
AeroFarms starts growing greens aeroponically β mist, LEDs, no soil β years before vertical farming becomes a venture darling.
Wikipedia
2021
π
2021
The peak: a $1.2B SPAC deal$1.2B
A merger with Spring Valley Acquisition would take the Newark farms public at ten figures.
TechCrunch
Oct 2021
Oct 2021
Deal scrapped
The SPAC merger collapses before closing; the capital the listing promised never arrives.
TechCrunch
2021β23
π¬
From the inside Β· Glassdoor reviews, 2021β23
Glassdoor reviews describe a company losing its operational footing: too many projects spreading teams thin, meetings without agendas or follow-through, and leadership that oversold the technology to investors while the farms underdelivered. Some employees sensed the end coming well before the filing.
Jun 2023
πͺ¦
Jun 2023
Chapter 11 β joins the Unitard Club π
Mass layoffs land alongside the June filing; $238M raised never bought a profitable farm.
Court filing
2023
2023
Founder out, farm diminished
AeroFarms emerges from bankruptcy much smaller; the founding CEO departs and the CFO takes over.
Court filing
π¬ entries paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor β; dated facts carry their source.
How it happened
AeroFarms grew leafy greens in aeroponic vertical farms and agreed a SPAC merger valuing it around $1.2B in 2021. The deal collapsed and the capital-hungry business never reached profitability, and it filed for Chapter 11 in June 2023.
Source: SPAC deal scrapped 2021
Founders
David Rosenberg
Co-founder & CEO
Now Managing Partner at NeoPrime Capital Partners Β· LinkedIn β
Ed Harwood
co-founder & chief science officer (invented the growing system, 2004)
