Jonathan Webb, CEO, AppHarvest: AgTech Farming for Our Well, I mean speaking of a publicly traded company, you just released your first-quarter results, and I think this was your first full quarter as a publicly traded company. Its the single largest LED installation in the United States despite using constant passive solar, waters its plants using recycled rainwater, employs an integrated pest management system to avoid any pesticides, has a 30x higher production yield than traditional open field agriculture, and has the ever so modest goal of transforming the future of agriculture. Learn More. This article will briefly review the most important information. We can have all the technological tools in the world, but at the end of the day we have to put people at the center of the equation.. The method of farming uses technology like artificial intelligence and robotics to grow fruits and vegetables, producing 30 times the yield of traditional farming while using 90% less water, the company claims. San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley), Total number of current Jobs the person has, CB Rank (Hub): Algorithmic rank assigned to the top 100,000 most active Hubs, Number of news articles that reference the Person, How AppHarvest Is Investing in the First Generation of High-Tech Farmers, AppHarvest May Not Be a Tasty Investment Yet, Agtech company AppHarvest debuts produce in select grocery stores, AppHarvest hires Impossible Foods David Lee as president, AppHarvest hires chief communications officer, Watch NASAs James Webb Space Telescope do high-tech origami, Varsity Spirits Webb on Bolstering the Middle Class, Jimmy Webb, Purveyor of Punk Fashion, Is Dead at 62, James Webb Space Telescope Successfully Deploys Its Mirror for the First Time. All rights reserved. We're ramping up and scaling quickly. Most of those employees were hired in the midst of 2020, something that Webb considers a testament to the trust his community has placed in AppHarvest. Webb: The industry is at an inflection point. Director recently sold US$216k worth of stock Nov 24 AppHarvest, Inc. He acknowledges that scaling up so quickly in the middle of a pandemic is, almost unheard of in the current world. Jonathan Webb is the Founder and CEO of AppHarvest, a company that combines conventional agricultural techniques with cutting-edge technology to address I hope you enjoy our conversation. He has over 100 civil and criminal jury trials and has represented clients in counties across Georgia. Webb left for college, eventually pursuing a career in renewables at the DOE, a space where he felt he could be part of the solution. But the economic devastation in his home state still bothered him. If you look at the grocery and then you go, wait a second. He has many impressive accomplishments. Clearly, the younger generation is coming up, sustainability matters, better food matters. Of course, the future is what really matters. Which is important, because AppHarvest employs well over 300 people in its Morehead facility alone. Jonathan Webb - Biography - MarketScreener.com Moser: Yeah, absolutely. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. His vision of the future of farming and much, much more. 2023 Fortune Media IP Limited. AppHarvest has invested in a 2.76million-square-foot greenhouse in Morehead (Ky.) to help meet this goal. Get 5 free searches. Part of it is that building big stuff fast in the US is very hard. PIPE deals effectively allow institutional investors to buy larger quantities of public company stock, typically at a discount to public market prices. The nonprofit organization he founded is still in operation today, and he continues to serve as Board Chair. WebJonathan Webb. In light of the challenges AppHarvest has faced in its early stages, Webb expressed hope that younger generations like Gen Z and millennials would continue to innovate and "fight through" any obstacles in their way. That lowers transportation costs by 75%, allowing AppHarvest's fresher produce to better compete against low-cost foreign imports. WebJonathan Webb, AppHarvest Inc: Profile and Biography - Bloomberg Markets Live Now Bloomberg TV+ Leaders with Lacqua:Mark Read WPP CEO Bloomberg Radio Meet the We want to make sure you get the most out of our platform. Who were the most active food and agriculture technology venture capital firms in 2022. We've been able, very fortunate, a very talented team, MIT team out of Boston that has a proven track record and great products that we've integrated them fully into the AppHarvest team. If I can sell you a grocer, a product at around the same price, what are we solving for? There's not going to be one food company feeding the world. On Twitter, the actor shares his personal experiences with his followers. His military experience allows him to leverage private capital for his projects. AppHarvest Now, our job is to make sure it's at around the same price. The first harvest at its Morehead facility is slated for early 2021. But in order to prove to our investors and prove to our shareholders and broader stakeholders, for us, it's about meeting our targets, and I've tried to say AppHarvest, we're in the business of delivering on our promises. Our team is built to scale and you look at where we're at today, we've launched our first facility. Jonathan, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to see just more about AppHarvest to talk about all the stuff that you're trying to accomplish there. Amid the verdant rolling hills of central Kentucky, in the heart of Appalachian coal country, youll Look at how many times in the last few years you've had leafy greens yanked off store shelves. But if you look at the current food system today, it's high fructose corn syrup, it's sugary food that has low nutrient density. Are you going to have drought? Other AppHarvest investors include TV cook Martha Stewart, VC veteran Peter Thiel, We are about to plant our first crop in a 60-acre, controlled environment, chemical-free farm. There's going to be a lot of companies hopefully working to solve our food and agriculture problems. While living in Washington D.C. developing sustainable energy farms, Jonathan researched another type of farming the Netherlands and its high-tech greenhouses that in a single acre yield as much as 10 outdoor acres and virtually eliminate the use of chemicals. Just wondering if you could share some of the highlights, some of the things you're proud of in regard to this earnings release, and your excitement here for the year to come. We look at them over the course of time, years, and hopefully, decades we can be a part of that journey with you all. Tomatoes will be the first fruit rolling out of AppHarvest's soon-to-launch facility in Morehead, Kentucky. Also referred to as blank check companies, the mechanism has existed for several years but has received increased attention of late. Executive Vice President and Head of Enterprise Development, Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry, Contract Support (U.S. Army Office of Energy Initiatives), Intelligent Assistance and Bots Ecosystem. The Great Resignation has not affected AppHarvest, because people who were leaving companies were leaving worthless companies that added no value to society, or were destroying society, Webb said. I have a 16 and then going on 15-year-old daughters. Australian National University Alumni Founded Companies, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University Alumni Founded Companies, Seattle Pacific University Alumni Founded Companies, Regis University Alumni Founded Companies, Emory University Alumni Founded Companies, New Mexico State University Alumni Founded Companies, Oakland University Alumni Founded Companies, Oklahoma State University Alumni Founded Companies, Number of Organizations that the person founded, Algorithmic rank assigned to the top 100,000 most active People, The organization associated to the person's primary job, Where the person is located (e.g. Thanks as always to Tim Sparks for putting the show together for us. Jonathan strives to work alongside the hard-working men and women of Eastern Kentucky and build an inclusive economy for the future. Get the latest news and research from AFN & AgFunder in your inbox. Then we have to remember this isn't just a U.S. problem we're trying to solve. In the 1992 Five Nations, England won the title back-to-back for the first time since 1924, thanks to Webbs brace. In its Nov. 7 filing, AppHarvest reported net losses of $83 million for the first nine months of the year and net sales of $10 million, with an accumulated deficit of $270 million. Jonathan Webb grew up in Kentucky and has been committed to developing But the futuristic pieces, we've combined a technology team with a great plant science group. What makes AppHarvest so unique? He played against Australia on 23 May. WebJonathan Webb, CEO, AppHarvest: AgTech Farming for Our Planets Future. We dont have two planets though, so Webb got creative. FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. There's a lot of different ways to go public and at the time and we did it, and I think it was definitely the best decision for us at the time. It means transparency. One, our geographic location. Jonathan Webb is the largest individual Appharvest shareholder, owning 20.54M shares representing 19.04% of the company. "In less than Webb is from Kentucky, where 16% of residents are below the poverty line, and when the coal jobs dried up, nothing came in to replace them. Your email address will not be published. The estimated value when the deal closes will be about a billion dollars for the company. AppHarvest reaffirms guidance on full-year 2021 net revenue of $21 million and Adjusted EBITDA of ($41) million provided during its Analyst Day presentation on December 15, 2020. But really its water and food first. At one point, we were thinking of putting up a billboard in front of several large tech company offices saying, Come build tech that matters, Webb said. AppHarvest raised over $475 million in a public IPO, but it is not over. Instead of just being able to tell a grocer 24-hours in advance here's the quality of product and here's when it will be shipped, with robotics going down the rows scanning the plants, we'll be able to get to days out and weeks out of being able to predict the yield, predict the quality, give more information to the grocer on when that product is going to be coming. But if you look at the world, China and India account for 40% of the world's population. Yes, we're using nature for what it's good. We have a phenomenal team of sustainability experts. People are becoming more and more aware of where they get stuff and for people that question how quickly a sector can transition, I have a lot of friends that worked in the coal industry. It hopes to expand into leafy greens, berries, cucumbers, and bell peppers in the future. That's our headquarters. To do that and look out for the long term is true sustainability, or resilience., Webb, who began his career developing renewable energy projects for the U.S. Army, believes any company is either part of destroying the planet or part of rebuilding its industry to align with the planet: I think its our obligation as CEOs to build companies that create long-standing values.. By the end of next year, we'll have five operating facilities. I want to talk with you about in regard to AppHarvest. Jeff Ubben, Inclusive Capital Partners founder and AppHarvest investor, and Jonathan Webb, AppHarvest CEO, join 'Closing Bell' to discuss what makes AppHarvest document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your bedroom should be a serene place for you to feel rested and rejuvenated. Typically, you would do 40 to 60 meetings to get a couple of investors. Then Jeff Obin, who is on our board and has been an early investor. He practices at Mayo Clinic Hospital Eau Claire. We always talk about investing for the future because that's really what investing is all about. I want to know what the problems are from them, not just our executive team. Again, the private markets get a very bad rap socially. That's how quickly the energy industry shifted. On today's show, AppHarvest Founder & CEO Jonathan Webb talks about AgTech (agriculture tech), the third wave of sustainable infrastructure. Why? Growing up in Appalachia, Jonathan Webb watched the slow decline of the coal industry firsthand. He is an ex-rugby player who represented England from 1987 to 1993, reaching the World Cup Final and winning two Five Nations grand slam titles. We're feeding our country with people in Mexico who are making $5 a day. The private markets can be a part of every solution we have that we're seeing today. We're a public benefit corporation, and we're B Corp certified. After serving as an assistant public defender in Marylands Office of the Public Defender, Webb joined Ethridge Quinn for 2020. If you look at AppHarvest, what are we doing? In February 2018, encouraged by investors, advisors including Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. With that difficult work that in mind, Webb has designed his company to grow as much produce as possible as sustainably as possible. AppHarvest "Tech for good the consumer wants it. I'd tell you, we go through tomatoes, handover, [] in my house alone, I'm sure. By us running on completely recycled rainwater, we have no water cost. His grandmother grew up in Whitley County, where a coal mining accident killed his great-grandfather. You have food safety concerns. It sounds like there's a lot of potential there. When youre building tech for techs sake, you start to question what youre doing. I love that passion. WebThe following charts show the stock performance of securities subsequent to each open-market, non-planned trade made by Jonathan Webb. You look at California and the Southwest of the U.S., drying up, drought-stricken, flagged by wildfires. Fame | AppHarvest net worth and salary income estimation Jan, I love your long-term focus. We're laser-focused on getting this right here. He often sleeps in an RV outside the construction site of its second facility. We can get to 70% of the U.S. in a one-day drive. We have to figure out how to grow a lot more food with a lot less resources and we can use that by utilizing technology and infrastructure to grow fruit and vegetables with 90% less water and get about 30 times yield per acre. Its easier than ever to find a trustworthy doctor. Photo credit: US controlled environment agriculture (CEA) startup, has announced a merger with NASDAQ-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), The deal is slated to bring in $475 million in gross proceeds for Kentucky-based AppHarvest, including a private investment in public equity (PIPE) transaction worth $375 million from existing and new investors including, I cant say this was the exact plan but what accelerated all of this was Covid-19, AppHarvest CEO Jonathan Webb told, . My background was a part of building some of the largest solar projects in the U.S. David Lee, who joined us from Impossible Foods, joined impossible foods five years ago as their CFO and COO raised them nearly over $1 billion in the last five years and turned them into what was a boutique idea, into a mass-market product on store shelves. Again, if you look at the U.S. right now, this is a USDA statistic, nearly 40% of fresh fruit and vegetables end up in a landfill. Jonathan Webb - Founder & CEO @ AppHarvest Webb, a former rugby player, has a wealth experience and is now helping players return to the sport they love. Webb: You said you didn't want to talk the rest of the day about ESG, right? The greenhouse, completed in 2020, yields up to 30 times the crops a traditional farm would, Webb said.