I love your long-term focus. In our first month or two, we're already at all those outlets. I write about the future of food, business, and culture. Growing up in Appalachia, Jonathan Webb watched the slow decline of the coal industry firsthand. The agriculture-tech startup raised $250,000 in its first round of seed capital in February 2018, AppHarvest CEO and founder Jonathan Webb told Insider. In the 1987 Rugby World Cup, Webb made his debut for England. Project Access offers ESL/ESL classes, after school programs, and computer literacy. One, our geographic location. Despite IPOs last year having the worst returns in a decade, Webb said he believed 2021 was an important time for the company to go public and stood by the decision to take the company's mission "directly to the Street" and to receive the "rigor of Wall Street early," which he claimed will only make the company "stronger in the long run.". AppHarvest has invested in a 2.76million-square-foot greenhouse in Morehead (Ky.) to help meet this goal. I'm sitting in the heart of coal country right now. Founder of AppHarvest, Inc., AppHarvest Morehead Farm LLC and My answer to that is always; sustainability is profitability. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*. $157M Today's Change (-7.84%) -$0.08 Current Price $0.94 Price as of March 1, 2023, 1:16 p.m. 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 are many sources of information on Jonathan Webbs networth. Almost every company in the coal industry has gone bankrupt over the last 10 years. You have to judge yourself internally. Visualize our facility in Murray, Kentucky, it's 2.8 million square feet, nearly 50 football fields under-glass. We just have to keep our head down and execute and do our job every day here at AppHarvest. Webb: Well, we built the company from day one. I go directly into the facility and talk to entry-level employees and people sweeping the floors. We have high demand for U.S.-grown and pesticide-free produce already, and when you combine that with the taste, color, and freshness of the AppHarvest model, on top of their social mission, it's driving our customers to ask for more." I'm Jason Moser, thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week. Typically, you would do 40 to 60 meetings to get a couple of investors. Are we perfect? I know you're busy. Clearly, the younger generation is coming up, sustainability matters, better food matters. Webb Net Worth Jonathan Webb grew up in Kentucky and has been committed to developing sustainable projects from Central Appalachia. I mean, all of the stuff that you just talked about really does matter. The same way there won't be one energy company powering the world. I have no doubt that we will. The mission-driven approach Webb has prioritized is the companys main selling point both for investors and potential employees, whom he works to lure away from billion-dollar conglomerates. Webb: To put this in perspective, this was our first facility under operations, our flagship facility. What's the technology that you are looking toward to help you change this space? We take that long term approach, we don't view things by quarter. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. We'll talk a little bit about that in just a second. His military experience allows him to leverage private capital for his projects. 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 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. Were building important stuff with long-standing value, so the Great Resignation has actually helped us acquire talent.. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeDiPalma or email her at bdipalma@yahoofinance.com. Webb was named a World Rugby Council RFU representative in 2016. Moser: It's impressive to think about the scope of what you are taking on because agriculture, farming, that's been something for so long, people just think, well, it's just what it's always been and we do it this way because that's the way we've always done it. When youre building tech for techs sake, you start to question what youre doing. AppHarvest He practices at Mayo Clinic Hospital Eau Claire. Jason Moser has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Jonathan Webb poses in front of his giant greenhouse, When you look at human civilization, what do you need? Webb grew up in Kentucky, and founded AppHarvest in 2017 after years in the solar development industry, based in New York. My competition in Mexico, you have people getting paid $5 a day. AppHarvest, which went public in February in an IPO that brought it $475 million in gross proceeds, is an ambitious venture. 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. But then what have we done with Root AI? Required fields are marked *. The High Stakes of the Roundup Cancer Lawsuit: Why Billions of Dollars are on the Line, 5 Ways to Get Money for Investment Property. Purpose At Work: How AppHarvests On A Mission To Help A SPAC is formed with the sole purpose of raising capital through an IPO in order to acquire an existing privately-held company and take it public. Jonathan Webb, CEO, AppHarvest: AgTech Farming for Our AppHarvest raised $500 million on its balance sheet this year, went public on the Nasdaq, hired 400 people to work in its first facility, and brought its first product, beefsteak tomatoes, to grocery stores including Kroger, Walmart, and Publix. If people remember that ice storm back in February, our facility operated, ramping up into full capacity with no issues in the middle of a global pandemic and the middle of an ice storm. Invest better with The Motley Fool. Webb founded AppHarvest in 2017, and the company was certified as a B Corp two years later. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 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? Eventually, he found the right problem to solve. 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. 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. Again, for their CEO, for their team to say to them not just about money, we can have more impact at scale with AppHarvest and achieve our mission and achieve our goals by working together. The system it uses reportedly reduces water usage by 90% compared to traditional open-field agriculture, while also eliminating runoff. The applied technology company is developing and operating some of the worlds largest high-tech indoor farms. Jonathan Webb is a specialist knee surgeon and a former English rugby union fullback. That's because of our inefficient systems in the supply chain. Same platform but with new and improved features. Why is that important? Webb, a former rugby player, has a wealth experience and is now helping players return to the sport they love. 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. Your email address will not be published. WebInside is a tightly controlled environment that uses 90% less water than open-field agriculture and only rainwater to produce crop yields up to 30 times that of traditional Learn More. Earlier this year we did get listed on the Nasdaq. ", "It's easy to be a CEO that's looking for the next three months," Webb stated. Webb is one of very few knee surgeons to have played for both the England-France national teams. Webb doesnt mince words on the specifics; the most valued companies in 100 years, he said, will be the ones that allow humanity to survive. He names a few: electronic vehicle manufacturers, renewable energy companies. It hopes to expand into leafy greens, berries, cucumbers, and bell peppers in the future. Moser: Yeah, absolutely. We want to be at Kroger. He also has experience in civil litigation and Title IX proceedings. He has also held roles in movies and television series. The private markets don't need to be a part of the problem, but we can't just be quarterly earnings focused. 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.. AppHarvest This year alone, more than 50 SPACs have been formed in the US, collectively raising. Since then, AppHarvest shares have plunged 70%. You have to get permitting, communities [buy-in], state and federal support, infrastructure, inspections. Because it is cutting-edge technology. The world's food and agriculture problems are not going to be solved overnight. They have 10% of the world's freshwater. 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. His final international was against Ireland in March 1993. For the fourth quarter You start to do the math, and realize you might need two planet earths to have enough land and water to grow that food.. Our job at AppHarvest, we need to make sure that we're keeping prices at a fair, good place where we're at today. Webb was also the first LPGA player to win $1 million in a single season, finishing first on the year-end money list. I cant say this was the exact plan but what accelerated all of this was Covid-19, AppHarvest CEO Jonathan Webb told AFN. You came public a lot sooner or probably that you would have had the opportunity to even 10 years ago. We were just talking earlier and you mentioned how you're in the DC area, it was fortunate that we had Steve Case, the founder of AOL, and he fundraised the rest. WebJonathan Webb - Founder & CEO @ AppHarvest - Crunchbase Person Profile Person Jonathan Webb Overview Number of Founded Organizations 1 CB Rank (Person) 4,704 ET More on the future of agriculture and vertical farming innovator 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. Who were the most active food and agriculture technology venture capital firms in 2022. Jonathan Webb, a Maryland attorney, has experience in criminal defense and DUI/DWI defense. The estimated value when the deal closes will be about a billion dollars for the company. 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. Because our services are focused on technology, 5G connectivity, and all of the different benefits we're going to get from that. Is there a benefit? Consumers are pushing back. Webb is a consultant orthopaedic physician and a board member of World Rugby. I don't think anybody thinks of farming from this perspective. 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. David and Tom just revealed what they believe are theten best stocks for investors to buy right now and Walmart wasn't one of them! Jonathan Webb is the largest individual Appharvest shareholder, owning 20.54M shares representing 19.04% of the company. Moser: Yeah, I'd tell you, I think you're right. We are about to plant our first crop in a 60-acre, controlled environment, chemical-free farm. If you want to know how wealthy he is, read on! sold to the top 25 U.S. grocers. You have food safety concerns. 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. The private markets can be a part of every solution we have that we're seeing today. Powered and implemented by Interactive Data Managed Solutions. 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. Similarly, she owns yachts and private planes and serves on the board of the Women Golf Club Foundation. I did want to know here because I saw this in the earnings release and I just thought it was one of those quotes that stood out to me from Mastronardi, your distributor. AppHarvest Founder & CEO on company's public debut via SPAC 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 Thats why AI scares people, we know tech can be used just as coldly as anything else.