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MOREHEAD, Ky., Feb. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AppHarvest, Inc. (NASDAQ: APPH, APPHW), a sustainable food company, public benefit corporation and Certified B Corp building some of the worlds largest high-tech indoor farms to grow affordable, nutritious fruits and vegetables at scale while providing good jobs in Copyright 2023 Surperformance. We need to change the profits versus purpose narrative; purpose drives profit and, ultimately, is what makes an organization durable and resilient for decades to come, Webb told Fortune. The private markets don't need to be a part of the problem, but we can't just be quarterly earnings focused. One, our geographic location. Like every Kentuckian, Jonathan grew up knowing of the devastating job losses in the region. The nonprofit organization he founded is still in operation today, and he continues to serve as Board Chair. Its service leadership; our team does not work for me, I work for our team., To that effect, hes imparted a lesson to each of his team members: Every day, help five people. We need to all collectively have a much more longer-term viewpoint on how we're building companies that are going to be good for communities, good for employees, and return a good return to our investors and shareholders. I think we have seen some other players in the space that are starting. I think it's clear that investors should really be excited for the future of AgTech. His grandmother grew up in Whitley County, where a coal mining accident killed his great-grandfather. In our first month or two, we're already at all those outlets. We've had one of our wettest decades on state record. "For us, at AppHarvest, this isn't just about a company. We don't want to be selling just to the high-end. If I can sell you a grocer, a product at around the same price, what are we solving for? The world's food and agriculture problems are not going to be solved overnight. On Twitter, the actor shares his personal experiences with his followers. S&P Index data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. He scored 296 points for England and played in two Rugby World Cups including the 1991 final. With a 19% stake, CEO Jonathan Webb is the largest shareholder. That's how quickly the energy industry shifted. Jonathan Webb: AppHarvest, we're based here in Central Appalachia and we're building some of the world's largest controlled environment agricultural facilities. It sounds like there's a lot of potential there. 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. more. We're in our first decade and we're going to try to look at judging the company on decade one, decade two, and decade three. Who were the most active food and agriculture technology venture capital firms in 2022. Because it is cutting-edge technology. Tomatoes will be the first fruit rolling out of AppHarvest's soon-to-launch facility in Morehead, Kentucky. I don't want to keep you all day, but before we wrap it up, I did want to talk to you a little bit about ESG, environmental sustainability governance issues. Jonathan received his bachelors degree from the University of Kentucky. Good CEOs do both., Given the rapidly worsening climate outlook, all founders should focus on building a business that will be more powerful in 30 years than it will in 30 days, he said. This article will briefly review the most important information. 95% of a fruit and vegetable is water. US controlled environment agriculture (CEA) startup AppHarvest has announced a merger with NASDAQ-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Novus Capital, enabling it to go public. Moser: Yeah. I made the point at one point in regard to AppHarvest. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla. Sustainable investor Equilibrium The system it uses reportedly reduces water usage by 90% compared to traditional open-field agriculture, while also eliminating runoff. Thanks as always to Tim Sparks for putting the show together for us. Jonathan Webb's Appharvest shares are currently valued at $20.96M. 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. *Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Appharvest has Webb grew up in Kentucky, and founded AppHarvest in 2017 after years in the solar development industry, based in New York. 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. Yes, we're using nature for what it's good. 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. 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. Similarly, she owns yachts and private planes and serves on the board of the Women Golf Club Foundation. Kentucky has been experiencing record amounts of rainfall in recent years, so for Webb, the location was obvious. By the end of next year, we'll have five operating facilities. But I wanted to ask you before we do, the Root AI acquisition. You have illegal chemical pesticides where the EPA cannot track the chemicals being used on these farms in Mexico. No one else in America is doing something at that scale. We've moved most of our fruit and vegetable production down to Mexico and we're importing and shipping in 2,000 miles. Jonathan strives to work alongside the hard-working men and women of Eastern Kentucky and build an inclusive economy for the future. Announces Separation of Julie Nelson as Chief Operating Officer Nov 16 Price target decreased to US$5.33 Nov 16 See more updates Shareholder Returns See full shareholder returns Return vs Industry: APPH underperformed the US Food industry which returned On this week's episode of Industry Focus: Wildcard, host Jason Moser chats with AppHarvest (APPH) founder and CEO Jonathan Webb about the growing opportunity in the agtech space, what makes AppHarvest unique, his vision of the future of farming, and much more. I like thinking about a future where AppHarvest and companies like you all are helping make our food supply not only here domestically, but really around the world better, more reliable, more transparent. But if you look at the world, China and India account for 40% of the world's population. All of our water is captured on our roof. I encourage anyone to go out there Google Root AI and go check out the videos of what some of this stuff does. The human spirit is willing to do a lot. WebThe combined company will be led by Jonathan Webb, AppHarvests Founder & Chief Executive Officer. Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Flipboard, and LinkedIn. ", As a CEO, Webb admitted that this focus on the long-term outlook has not been easy to prove to Wall Street, especially when compared to those who are "selling a worthless product that's not good for people and not good for planet and arguably questionable for shareholders. Jonathan Webb is an actor with a large following on Twitter. 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. You came public a lot sooner or probably that you would have had the opportunity to even 10 years ago. Why? As I was listening, there was a quote, you said, "We are farmers and futurists." We thought in order to build an organization that's going to be selling to the top grocers. 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. 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. But then what have we done with Root AI? We have a phenomenal team of sustainability experts. 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. Later, in 1993, he relocated to the United Kingdom, where he completed his LLM. Theyre looking for purpose in their life; theyre looking for companies like us.. With that difficult work that in mind, Webb has designed his company to grow as much produce as possible as sustainably as possible. You have to judge yourself internally. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Jonathan about the growing opportunity in the AgTech space. There has been nothing more impactful on farming since that time, and now, it's AI robotics and using data to make decisions. Is there any one thing or is it a collection of many things? I don't know that we're going to have enough time, but let's just start first and foremost this is one of our most recent recommendations in our service. How do they plan on achieving that goal? We can also do it by returning investors to our shareholders. My competition in Mexico, you have people getting paid $5 a day. Is there a benefit? Webb: Well, the last great technological revolution in American farming is really when the tractor was introduced. Typically, you would do 40 to 60 meetings to get a couple of investors. Powered and implemented by Interactive Data Managed Solutions. Jonathan Webb is the largest individual Appharvest shareholder, owning 20.54M shares representing 19.04% of the company. Why locate in Appalachia? Since joining HFW in 2004, Mr. Webb has specialized in P&I and FD&D for ship owners. But the journey hasnt been without pitfalls. He has become a prominent social media star. He also received his medical license from Minnesota. 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 always talk about investing for the future because that's really what investing is all about. AppHarvest (APPH) CEO Jonathan Webb said the company has its eyes on the long term as it looks to "institutionalize" controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Is that drought going to impact yield and you don't end up being able to get product to the grocery store? Cost basis and return based on previous market day close. I have no doubt that we will. It's a nice evolution in the investing world that we care more and more about it. The SPAC opportunity, let you, I think, become a publicly traded company maybe sooner than you really felt like you needed to. Webb, a former rugby player, has a wealth experience and is now helping players return to the sport they love. It's so cool to think about what you guys are doing there. Investors look at that, Peter Halt, AppHarvests newly appointed chief financial officer, told, Step aside, alt-protein: Bioplastics are the real agrifoodtech opportunity, The rise of the reused machines: Germanys E-Farm raises $5.3m Series A. Moser: Well, you said it on the call. They have 10% of the world's freshwater. 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. He noted that in traditional agriculture, most everything happens incrementally, But now is not a time for incrementalism the thing that needs to be added to that recipe is folks [like Webb] that want to be aggressive in getting us ready for a world where its hard to grow crops.. 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. You look at California and the Southwest of the U.S., drying up, drought-stricken, flagged by wildfires. Webb, a Kentucky native and University of Kentucky graduate, says he remains committed to his goal of employing large numbers of people at high-tech farms around the eastern half of the state. Almost every company in the coal industry has gone bankrupt over the last 10 years. We're farmers, we are growing fruits and vegetables, and we're utilizing sunlight, we're utilizing rainwater. I go directly into the facility and talk to entry-level employees and people sweeping the floors. We believe controlled environment agriculture is the third wave of sustainable infrastructure. I could be in a penthouse in New York City, managing AppHarvest from the 32nd floor of some high-rise. We just want to be one of those and we're cognizant that there's going to be plenty of large players. AppHarvest knows its far from being the only player in the CEA game. Get stock recommendations, portfolio guidance, and more from The Motley Fool's premium services. I'm really excited to have you all as a recommendation in our service and hopefully, our members are too after talking with you today. His fund's based in DC, we had them as early investors. How excited are you to bring that Root AI company in their leadership into your family? 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. But being true to our ESG values, we think it is a competitive advantage and going to make us more competitive in the years to come. It doesn't need to be one or the other, it needs to be both, and we're happy to be a bit of a public benefit corporation and B Corp certified. We're ramping up and scaling quickly. This will result in a $1.7 billion return of investment for the company. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*. 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 The Art of Self Meditation: What Are the Benefits? In 1985, he joined Bristol Rugby and won the John Player Cup. I mean, all of the stuff that you just talked about really does matter. You can also compare Dr. Webb with other orthopedic surgeons in Eau Claire to find the one that best suits your needs. All rights reserved. We're feeding our country with people in Mexico who are making $5 a day. People at large tech companies question what theyre actually building. A Bull Market Is Coming: 3 Reasons to Buy Costco Stock, 3 Top Stocks to Buy Now to Prepare for a Bull Market, 2 Exceptional Growth Stocks to Own in 2023, 2 No-Brainer Stocks to Buy During a Stock Market Plunge, 3 Robinhood Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever, 2 Reasons to Avoid a Roth 401(k) for Your Retirement Savings, Want $1 Million in Retirement? Webb: To put this in perspective, this was our first facility under operations, our flagship facility. Also referred to as blank check companies, the mechanism has existed for several years but has received increased attention of late. All rights reserved. We just have to keep our head down and execute and do our job every day here at AppHarvest. ESG should be at the core of profitability and it should be at the core of building a resilient company. 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. WebJonathan Webb, CEO, AppHarvest: AgTech Farming for Our Planets Future. Now, his company AppHarvest (the name is a play on both Appalachia and the high-tech nature of what they do), operates a sixty acre greenhouse in Morehead, Kentucky that grows hydroponic tomatoes up to the ceiling. WebJonathan Webb. Follow him on Twitter to get more updates. We're focused on bringing that production back from Mexico that has been shifted outside of the U.S. and bring that back into the U.S. in a controlled environment. The regulators are pushing that direction. It was clear that their work culture is infused with a pioneering mentality, and that Webb feels strongly about keeping that culture consistent as the company expands. He completed a fellowship in Australia at North Sydney Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Centre and has worked in many high-profile clinics in the area. Not only picking, pruning, harvesting, being able to actually get the tomato off the vine, and ultimately, shipped out, but also the predictive analytics that we can use. We'll talk a little bit about your quarterly results here in a minute because I want to get into that, but one of the things that stood out to me in the earnings call. Very excited about the Root AI transaction. The business combination values AppHarvest at a $1.0 billion pro forma equity value, at the $10.00 per share PIPE price and assuming minimal redemptions by Novus Capital shareholders. A universal harvester robot at AppHarvest's Morehead, Kentucky greenhouse, AppHarvests crops are monitored for quality control 24/7 and harvested robotically, a labor-saving advancement that lets the staff treat farming almost like a manufacturing process. Webb is a consistent presence at the companys flagship greenhouse in Morehead. With significant tailwinds from heightened investor focus on ESG initiatives and the secular shift to plant-based foods, we believe AppHarvest is well-positioned to execute on its strategy for rapid growth and value creation, he continued. AppHarvest is known for its approach to CEA, which Webb called the "third wave of sustainable infrastructure." Jonathan Webb was born on 24 August 1963, in London, England. AppHarvest raised over $475 million in a public IPO, but it is not over. AppHarvest. Now, we want to turn this region into an area of the country that's known for sustainable food production, but beyond just loving the place, I'm from Kentucky, beyond just loving this area, we can get to three quarters of the U.S. on a day drive. "Tech for good the consumer wants it. Webb started his professional career in 1989 as a Durban maritime lawyer firm. CSC Leasing: Non-dilutive Funding for AgTech Startups, Americas Cultivation Corridor: We Grow AgTech Innovation, As demand for protein grows Sustainable Planet bets on water lentils as a viable alternative to soya, How not to fail in vertical farming: Be on guard for hubris, say Indoor Ag-Con speakers, International Fresh Produce Association launches 2023 Fresh Field Catalyst Accelerator program, BREAKING: Perfect Day animal-free dairy patent in US challenged, What is the role of biotech in an ethical food system? Become a Motley Fool member today to get instant access to our top analyst recommendations, in-depth research, investing resources, and more. 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. We're really in the business of packaging up water and then shipping that out to major markets and then beyond that execution at scale. By being able to have robotics and AI they can have more real-time information. Webb founded AppHarvest in 2017, and the company was certified as a B Corp two years later. If you look at the largest grocers in the U.S., we're selling to Kroger, Walmart, Publix, and we're selling to Wendy's. On today's show, AppHarvest Founder & CEO Jonathan Webb talks about AgTech (agriculture tech), the third wave of sustainable infrastructure. Project Access, Inc. was founded by Mr. Webb in 1999. His Twitter account is one of the most popular on the social network. 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. The last thing I would say to that is whether or not we want to do it or not, the world is changing and regulators are approaching back. In order to do that, you have to have rigor. I cant say this was the exact plan but what accelerated all of this was Covid-19, AppHarvest CEO Jonathan Webb told AFN. Eventually, he found the right problem to solve. Webb: Well, thank you and thank you for having me, and we've got a lot of work to do here, but I can assure you we're head down building and look forward to continuing the conversation another time. Webb founded it in 2017 in his native Kentucky; it became a certified B Corp two years later. My answer to that is always; sustainability is profitability. Despite the off quarter, Webb has much to celebrate. 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. Then I got to mention the area we're in, Eastern Kentucky has been known for coal mining for decades, it was known as the whole country, so to speak, and empowering the U.S. through the industrial revolution with low-cost coal. WebJonathan Webb, the CEO of AppHarvest, says water scarcity is a growing national security concern as a heatwave continues to wreak havoc on the West Coast.
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