Vertical farming startup shuts down metro Atlanta operations

A vertical farming startup that raised millions of dollars and promised a significant investment in Georgia is shutting down after a potential acquisition fell apart.

Ohio-based 80 Acres Farms has closed its facility south of Atlanta in Forest Park, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with the state. The closure affects 110 workers, including farm supervisors, technicians and packers.

Other WARN notices have been filed in states including Ohio, Kentucky, South Carolina, Colorado, Virginia and Washington.

“After an exhaustive effort to find a way forward, 80 Acres Farms is winding down operations,” Mike Zelkind, CEO and co-founder of 80 Acres, said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

80 Acres said in an Aug. 3 letter to Georgia officials that it had pursued a potential acquisition “to provide the funding necessary to continue operations.” But the deal fell through the evening of Aug. 2, the company said.

“Without the anticipated transaction proceeds and with no other funding available to sustain operations, the company was required to make the immediate decision to wind down its business,” said the letter.

In vertical farming, crops are grown indoors in stacked layers, using less water and land than traditional farms and producing harvests year-round.

The industry promised to transform agriculture and became a darling of Silicon Valley investors in the late 2010s, according to The New York Times. But vertical farming is capital intensive, and startups found it hard to compete. Several have gone out of business, especially amid higher interest rates and rising energy costs, the NYT reported.

The U.S. produce industry this summer has also been hit by a multistate cyclospora outbreak, causing illness and sparking consumer concerns that have affected lettuce sales, according to Reuters.

At the top of its website, 80 Acres says: “Romaine calm. Our products are not impacted by the current outbreak.”

Founded in 2015, 80 Acres raised $390 million over the course of about 10 years, according to Crunchbase. The company grew salad varieties, microgreens and herbs, available at retailers such as Atlanta-area Kroger stores.

In 2022, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced 80 Acres would invest $120 million into a new Covington facility and hire 150 workers.

The Covington facility was constructed but never opened. Instead, 80 Acres expanded its footprint by acquiring vertical farming company Kalera, a deal announced in early 2025 that included the Forest Park facility in Georgia, along with others in Texas and Colorado.

80 Acres operated multiple commercial facilities in various states, several pack houses and research and development facilities, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier.