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Plenty grows its plants in tall towers inside a climate-controlled facility with LED lights. It does not use pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, or GMOs. The system uses thousands of infrared cameras and sensors to collect data in the farms that is analyzed using machine learning to optimize growth.
The five-year-old startup promises its new Tigris farm can produce fruits and vegetables using less than 5 percent of the water and 1 percent of the land required in traditional agriculture.
It’s a prospect that has attracted some of the biggest names in tech. Backers of the company’s last fundraising round include SoftBank (via its Vision Fund); Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt (through Innovation Endeavors); Bezos (through Bezos Expeditions); DCM Ventures; Data Collective; Finistere Ventures; and Louis Bacon. Plenty has raised more than $200 million in venture funding.
Ra said Plenty ceased operations in Kent a year ago. Some employees were given the opportunity to relocate to San Francisco. Today, three of the employees who worked in Kent are still with Plenty. Ra said it is unlikely that Plenty will circle back to the Kent facility but the company still maintains its lease on the building. |