Square Roots, a vertical farming startup co-founded by Elon Musk's brother Kimbal, shut down most of its locations on Tuesday. Additionally, the firm also laid off most of its staff, sources informed Business Insider. The smart farming startup had raised over $90M in funding from investors, including David Sach's Craft Ventures, since its founding in 2016. - Co-founder and CEO Tobias Peggs informed employees through a Zoom call on Tuesday that the company is planning to shut down its production at its farms in Springfield, Ohio; Shepherdsville, Kentucky; Kenosha, Wisconsin; and one farm in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
- The company will continue to keep another farm in Grand Rapids active and has held 10 workers at the location as it focuses on a new business model, pivoting away from manufacturing and packaging its own products to supporting business partners such as Gordon Food Services as a "farming as a service" provider.
|
