80 Acres, a vertical farming company with a presence in Florence, has abruptly shut its doors for good.
CEO Mike Zelkind announced on Aug. 3 that the company had exhausted the necessary capital to continue operations. All 80 Acres indoor facilities and its related subsidiaries are closing
“Unfortunately, under current circumstances, we could not secure the capital required to continue that work,” Zelkind said in a statement.
80 Acres was a prominent agritech startup that has raised hundreds of millions of dollars of capital investment since its founding in 2015. The company operated indoor growing facilities in Florence and Hamilton, Ohio, where it cultivated produce to be sold at nationwide retailers. Notably, 80 Acres products became a staple in Kroger’s produce aisles.
In 2024, the Boone County Fiscal Court issued $140 million worth of public bonds to support 80 Acres’ expansion of its Florence-area growing facility at 7455 Empire Drive. Two years prior, 80 Acres invested $95 million in the vacant Hennigan Company printing facility into a state-of-the-art indoor farm.
