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Benson Hill

Agtech / crop geneticsUSA
💀 Dead / Bankrupt
Peak $2 BillionToday
~-100%
from peak
  1. 🦄
    Became a unicorn
    2021
  2. 📈
    Peak valuation
    $2 Billion ’21
  3. 💔
    Became a Unitard
    2022
  4. 💸
    Last valuation
    Wiped out
🔥 Raised & burned
$282M
Total raised
$76.9K/day
Burned · 10.0y alive
Funding: Crunchbase
Current status
Filed Chapter 11 (March 2025), converted to Chapter 7; common stock declared worthless; assets sold via credit bid.

How it happened

Benson Hill used data science and crop genetics to develop better soybeans and went public in September 2021 via a $2B SPAC merger with Star Peak Corp II, backed by GV, BlackRock and Bunge. Persistent operating losses forced it to sell processing plants and execute a 1-for-35 reverse split. Insiders saw it early: Glassdoor reviews counted recurring layoff rounds — three in one year, some said — carried out with little transparency from leadership, while startup perks and once-unlimited PTO were quietly pared back and departing experts left knowledge gaps behind. In March 2025 it filed Chapter 11, converted to Chapter 7 liquidation, and the stock was declared worthless.

Employee accounts paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor ↗. See our methodology.

Source: Food Dive / AgFunderNews / elevenflo (~$2B SPAC merger with Star Peak Corp II, Sept 2021, backed by GV, BlackRock, Bunge; 1-for-35 reverse split July 2024; Chapter 11 March 2025, converted to Chapter 7, stock declared worthless; assets sold to Confluence Genetics)

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