A robotic farm grows backed by Pritzker billions

Added on 09 March 2022

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A robotic farm grows backed by Pritzker billions

Currently less than 1% of fresh produce is grown through hydroponics systems versus open-field agriculture, but this segment is forecast by Mordor Intelligence to grow by nearly 11% yearly to about $600 million by 2025 and Walmart has invested $400 million in Plenty Unlimited. Vertical farming start-up Fifth Season is backed by billionaire Nicholas Pritzker's Tao Capital and planning to disrupt the $60 billion U.S. produce market through food partners include Sabra, Kroger, Shoprite and Giant Eagle. "The tech multiplier doesn't lift all boats but it is spreading in the heartland," says Congressman Ro Khanna of Silicon Valley.

Next to the last steel mill in the poor industrial town of Braddock along the Monongahela River just nine miles from Pittsburgh's U.S. Steel Tower, a vertical farming business backed by billionaire Nicholas Pritzker's Tao Capital is sprouting as an agritech innovator.

The start-up, founded in 2016 as RoBotany by MBA student Austin Webb and incubated at Carnegie Mellon University, is aiming to disrupt the $60 billion U.S. produce market. Now named the more consumer-friendly sounding Fifth Season, the emerging business is leveraging advanced technology, $75 million in venture capital, increased distribution, a planned new Columbus, Ohio, facility, and an expanded management team to score in the fast-growth vertical farming market. CEO Webb confidently projects Fifth Season could be a $15 million business in Pittsburgh within five years and $500 million through geographic expansion plans, and estimates sales will hit a double-digit revenue rate this year and a 600% revenue increase.