AppHarvest has invested in a 2.76million-square-foot greenhouse in Morehead (Ky.) to help meet this goal. He pointed out that, At NASA in the 60s, if you would go visit a facility and you walked up to a janitor and asked, What do you do here? they would say, Im working to put a man on the moon. Thats been the same mentality here Its the collective thats making this thing possible.. We're going to be based in Central Appalachia. But for us, it's not a back-and-forth, it's not OK, well, I'm going to invest in an ESG company and I'm going to sacrifice profitability. Even with the help of AI, farm work at AppHarvest is still hard, manual labor. I was hoping maybe we could talk a little bit about that idea that you're farmers and futurists. Jonathan Webb - Insider Trading Tracker - Fintel I don't think anybody thinks of farming from this perspective. Vance, and politicians of both parties, Jonathan left Washington and came home to Kentucky, where he now works tirelessly to make the eastern part of the state the AgTech capital of America. "In less than *Average returns of all recommendations since inception. People, planet, wonderful, but I'm trying to make money. 95% of a fruit and vegetable is water. AppHarvest is a unique and compelling investment opportunity that is redefining American agriculture by improving access for all to fresh non-GMO produce, growing more with fewer resources, and creating an agtech hub from within Appalachia, Novus chairman Bob Laikin said in a statement. Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman at the 2022 SXSW Conference, 3 big things in investing you might have missed this week, UPDATE 1-North Korea says US causing international arms control collapse, EU releases funds, prepares aid flight for eastern Congo, Rheinmetall in talks on building tank factory in Ukraine - report, Ukraine Latest: Metsola Urges More Sanctions Pressure on Russia. Here, we've had three years out of the last ten years in Kentucky have been our wettest years on state record. We'll talk a little bit about that in just a second. 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. Our job at AppHarvest, we need to make sure that we're keeping prices at a fair, good place where we're at today. That's because of our inefficient systems in the supply chain. As part of that, in order to bring trust and transparency to agriculture, you have to be a public company. The High Stakes of the Roundup Cancer Lawsuit: Why Billions of Dollars are on the Line, 5 Ways to Get Money for Investment Property. Webb: The industry is at an inflection point. We're going to be headquartered in Central Appalachia, execution at scale here in the U.S. but this is a global problem that we've gotten phone calls from around the world about how and when we can take our solution and go elsewhere. I pay attention to my kids. I think we have seen some other players in the space that are starting. When people and robots work together, its actually more productive than robots alone or people alone. On a traditional farm, there are a seemingly infinite number of tasks to do at any given moment, so adding some computers to make it more efficient doesnt mean that human farmers will be anywhere near obsolete any time soon. Is that drought going to impact yield and you don't end up being able to get product to the grocery store? Webb: We've been very fortunate that some of our investors and board members, Fidelity was the largest investor in our pipe during the public process, Jeff Ubben of Inclusive Capital, our Chief Sustainability Officer, Jackie Roberts came to us from the Carlyle Group, we're all very serious about this. Jonathan Webb Net Worth Visualize our facility in Murray, Kentucky, it's 2.8 million square feet, nearly 50 football fields under-glass. WebJonathan Webb, AppHarvest Inc: Profile and Biography - Bloomberg Markets Live Now Bloomberg TV+ Leaders with Lacqua:Mark Read WPP CEO Bloomberg Radio Meet the Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Webb is one of very few knee surgeons to have played for both the England-France national teams. The system it uses reportedly reduces water usage by 90% compared to traditional open-field agriculture, while also eliminating runoff. The history of the world is in many ways the history of technology, and of our reactions to it. He was made a Fellow of the British Association of Surgery on the Knee (BASK), and has since taught many international and national athletes in sports medicine. Moser: Well, you said it on the call. Even though you entered at such a young stage of your business, You essentially were pre-revenue coming into the public markets, and now, you're just getting that started. I love your long-term focus. That to me, was in a nutshell what it's all about. But the futuristic pieces, we've combined a technology team with a great plant science group. Jonathan Webb, AppHarvest Inc: Profile and Biography WebFounder & CEO, AppHarvest Kentucky native and University of Kentucky graduate Jonathan Webb is turning his dream of a high-tech farming hub in Appalachia into reality with AppHarvest. We're farmers, we are growing fruits and vegetables, and we're utilizing sunlight, we're utilizing rainwater. He has also held roles in movies and television series. All Rights Reserved. Webb founded AppHarvest in 2017, and the company was certified as a B Corp two years later. That narrow focus on societal good is what has kept AppHarvest fully staffed throughout the pandemic. As founder and CEO of AppHarvest, Ive been listening to a podcast called The Future of Farming and Investing, where Jonathan Webb discusses how AppHarvest has built a three-million-square-foot indoor farm, twice as large as Amazons largest distribution center. We've had one of our wettest decades on state record. According to AppHarvest's earnings report released Feb. 24, the company had net sales of $9.1 million and net loss of of $166.2 million in 2021. We've been very fortunate and humbled that the Root AI team is fully a part of the AppHarvest team building robotics that's operating on AI, collecting data. Its flagship facility is a 60-acre indoor farm in Morehead, a town of 8,000 in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, and it solely uses rainwater for its irrigation. He scored 296 points for England and played in two Rugby World Cups including the 1991 final. They're not going to be solved in a month or a year or a quarter and we just want to build an organization that's going to be able to go toe-to-toe with the larger incumbents out there, and the best way to do that is to have that rigor of being a publicly traded company. KY-based AppHarvest admits serious concerns about its The Kentucky-based agriculture tech company, which was founded in 2017, began trading on the Nasdaq in late February 2021 after completing a SPAC merger with Novus Capital Corporation. You have food safety concerns. AppHarvest CEO envisions 'couple-decade journey' after going public WebAppHarvest salary income and net worth data provided by People Ai provides an estimation for any internet celebrity's real salary income and net worth like AppHarvest based on real Founder of AppHarvest, Inc., AppHarvest Morehead Farm LLC and How do you feel about coming public a lot earlier than you probably would've normally? We've had record amounts of rainfall. Webb was named a World Rugby Council RFU representative in 2016. Use our online form to book an appointment with Dr. Webb. Jonathan Webb is an actor with a large following on Twitter. We had 22 meetings and had almost 20 yeses. Very few passed on this deal and we eventually had to cancel meetings.. I mean, I think that kind of speaks for itself. AppHarvest. Why locate in Appalachia? But to our investors the question and I got this on the roadshow, I'm in this to make money, great. Its first crop will be non-GMO tomatoes, which will be provided to a number of US grocers. Are you going to have drought? Jeff Ubben on investing in AppHarvest - CNBC 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. When he says sustainable, he doesnt just mean that in an environmental sense. He actively engages with his followers through his various social media accounts, including Instagram and Twitter. My answer to that is always; sustainability is profitability. On today's show, AppHarvest Founder & CEO Jonathan Webb talks about AgTech (agriculture tech), the third wave of sustainable infrastructure. Other AppHarvest investors include TV cook Martha Stewart, VC veteran Peter Thiel, ValueAct Capitals Spring Fund, Revolutions Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Equilibrium Capital, and Narya the new VC firm co-founded by JD Vance, author of best-selling Appalachian memoir Hillbilly Elegy. We take that long term approach, we don't view things by quarter. Originally from Kentucky, Webb is dedicated to sustainable projects in Central Appalachia. AppHarvest 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 Fidelity Management & Research Company, Inclusive Capital, and Novus. We're ramping up and scaling quickly. Prior to founding AppHarvest, Jonathan supported the Executive Director of the Army Office of Energy Initiatives to help meet the White House goal of supplying 20% of the Department of Defenses electricity usage from renewable sources by leveraging private sector capital for the projects. So the problem at a macro level just started with hearing the statistic [that humanity will need] 50% to 70% more food by 2050. Webb: Regulators are pounding on them, consumers are pounding on them. I mean I'm glad you keyed on the fact this is a global situation, it's a global issue. Learn More. "The public market needs to have a robust category of companies that are building stuff that matters," he stressed. WebGet Chad Hill's email address (c*****@appharvest.com) and phone number at RocketReach. AppHarvest which raised $28 million in its Series C round in August is launching what it describes as the worlds largest greenhouse later this year, consisting of a 2.76 million square foot facility in Morehead, Kentucky. Those robots have collected the worlds largest data set of tomato images, and each one is equipped with cameras and a laser that creates a 3D scan of the crops in front of it to determine what needs to be done at any given moment. We want to be selling to 90% of America. For the fourth quarter Were building robotics and software that will ultimately be able to service the entire global agriculture industry. Jeff Ubben, Inclusive Capital Partners founder and AppHarvest investor, and Jonathan Webb, AppHarvest CEO, join 'Closing Bell' to discuss what makes AppHarvest I feel like with AppHarvest, at least, my takeaway, I found a lot of things that make you all special. 10 stocks we like better thanWalmartWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have an investing tip, it can pay to listen. 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. Investors Dig Into AppHarvest | The Motley Fool - Nasdaq In the 1987 Rugby World Cup, Webb made his debut for England. But its confident in its approach. Webb: Well, I'll start by saying, anyone that is growing good, clean produce, without harsh chemical pesticides, I try to call them my colleagues, not competitors. 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