AppHarvest, the start-up company preparing to open a large indoor growing facility in Morehead, announced that it has started construction on a second high-tech controlled environment agriculture facility in Madison County.
The indoor facility will exceed 60 acres, and grow non-GMO, chemical pesticide-free fruits and vegetables to be distributed to grocers and restaurants across the United States. Because of its centralized location, AppHarvest can reach nearly 70 percent of Americans in just a day’s drive, reducing transportation costs by up to 80 percent compared to existing growers in Mexico and the Southwestern U.S.
AppHarvest plans to open its flagship facility — a 2.76-million-square-foot facility growing tomatoes — this month in Morehead.
“This purchase brings us one step closer to our goal of establishing America's next AgTech hub from right here in Appalachia,” said AppHarvest founder and CEO Jonathan Webb.
"It is an exciting day for Madison County," said Madison County Judge Executive Reagan Taylor. "Over the past two years, the Madison County and AppHarvest teams have been focused on finding economic development opportunities that capitalize on our combination of hard-working people, central location and agricultural history. Today is the result of that hard work and we couldn't be happier.”
In just over two years, AppHarvest has attracted more than $150 million in investment into central Appalachia, the company said. On September 29, AppHarvest announced an agreement to combine with Novus Capital Corporation, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, through a reverse merger. The combination, which is expected to close late in the fourth quarter of 2020 or early in the first quarter of 2021, will provide $475 million of gross proceeds to the company, including $375 million fully committed common stock PIPE at $10 per share, anchored by existing and new investors — including Fidelity Management & Research Company, LLC, Inclusive Capital, and Novus Capital Corporation.
AppHarvest’s investors include Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Inclusive Capital Partners, Equilibrium, Narya Capital, Lupa Systems, Breyer Capital, and Endeavor Catalyst.
Board members include Martha Stewart, Narya Capital Co-Founder and Partner JD Vance, Impossible Foods Chief Financial Officer David Lee, and investor Jeff Ubben.