Sustainable investor Equilibrium There has been nothing more impactful on farming since that time, and now, it's AI robotics and using data to make decisions. Jonathan Webb grew up in Kentucky and has been committed to developing sustainable projects from Central Appalachia. Our job at AppHarvest, we need to make sure that we're keeping prices at a fair, good place where we're at today. Webbs England career totaled 67 points, breaking Hodgkinsons 60-point record. This company has plans to open two additional indoor farms in Kentucky and has already announced partnerships with the Dutch government and multiple universities to make Appalachia a hub for the agtech industry. The estimated value when the deal closes will be about a billion dollars for the company. Those are always famous last words as we move into some disruptive phase. This helped the Army reach its goal of 20% renewable energy by 2025. 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. 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. If you look at the grocery and then you go, wait a second. It's nearly impossible to have full transparency. I'd tell you, we go through tomatoes, handover, [] in my house alone, I'm sure. But if you look at the world, China and India account for 40% of the world's population. On Twitter, the actor shares his personal experiences with his followers. 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. Moser: That's exciting. Jonathan Webb, a Maryland attorney, has experience in criminal defense and DUI/DWI defense. Investors look at that, Peter Halt, AppHarvests newly appointed chief financial officer, told AFN. Director recently sold US$216k worth of stock Nov 24 AppHarvest, Inc. Jonathan Webb poses with celebrity investor Martha Stewart and some of his signature tomatoes. Moser: Well, you said it on the call. 2023 Fortune Media IP Limited. 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 us running on completely recycled rainwater, we have no water cost. Location: Pikeville, KY. Add to My Lists. You have labor concerns. Kentucky has been experiencing record amounts of rainfall in recent years, so for Webb, the location was obvious. 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.. Webb grew up in Kentucky, and founded AppHarvest in 2017 after years in the solar development industry, based in New York. AppHarvest Founder & CEO on company's public debut via SPAC But the journey hasnt been without pitfalls. You've taken a lot of steps early on in the development of your business to address a lot of those ESG concerns. Even with the help of AI, farm work at AppHarvest is still hard, manual labor. You have food safety concerns. FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. Jonathan strives to work alongside the hard-working men and women of Eastern Kentucky and build an inclusive economy for the future. "Greenwashing" Doesn't Work: Jonathan Webb, Founder & CEO, Dr. Webb graduated at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. 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. These food companies today are like the cigarette companies 40 years ago. The system it uses reportedly reduces water usage by 90% compared to traditional open-field agriculture, while also eliminating runoff. Karrie, on the other hand, has not disclosed her salary or income. 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. We just have to keep our head down and execute and do our job every day here at AppHarvest. www.vbprofiles.com is now www.topionetworks.com. Jonathan Webb: AppHarvest, we're based here in Central Appalachia and we're building some of the world's largest controlled environment agricultural facilities. Jonathan Webb, CEO, AppHarvest: AgTech Farming for Our Thats why AI scares people, we know tech can be used just as coldly as anything else. WebThe following charts show the stock performance of securities subsequent to each open-market, non-planned trade made by Jonathan Webb. In the same year, he scored his second try after just 23 seconds. There's going to be a lot of companies hopefully working to solve our food and agriculture problems. 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. AppHarvest 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. I know you're busy. I fundamentally do not think its a tradeoff. ESG should be at the core of profitability and it should be at the core of building a resilient company. Thanks as always to Tim Sparks for putting the show together for us. No. By being able to have robotics and AI they can have more real-time information. AppHarvest The greenhouse, completed in 2020, yields up to 30 times the crops a traditional farm would, Webb said. 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. Jonathan Webb is an actor with a large following on Twitter. Its easier than ever to find a trustworthy doctor. AppHarvest has invested in a 2.76million-square-foot greenhouse in Morehead (Ky.) to help meet this goal. We believe controlled environment agriculture is the third wave of sustainable infrastructure. 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.. Yes, maybe we're paying marginally more in the short-term, but that workforce is the one that's beating production targets daily. One of AppHarvest's mobile units ready to fight the food fight, outside of AppHarvest's offices in [+] Lexington, Kentucky, If we cant treat people with dignity and respect who put food on our table, where do we think humanity is going to end up? They ask themselves, Did we help five people today? 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. There's a level of rigor that comes with that, and so for us, the SPAC was just a vehicle. 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.. I mean, that is right in line. If you look at AppHarvest, what are we doing? AppHarvest raised over $475 million in a public IPO, but it is not over. All of our water is captured on our roof. 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. There are many sources of information on Jonathan Webbs networth. When is it going to be able to ship? 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. But I wanted to ask you before we do, the Root AI acquisition. Moser: I guess you're saying, and a lot of us would agree, you can't have your cake and eat it too. Terms & Conditions. WebAppharvest (: ) is owned by 29.32% institutional shareholders, 30.67% Appharvest 40.01% retail investors. Again, tomatoes are our first crop, but by next year, strawberries and leafy greens. That greenhouse is just the proof of conceptAppHarvest has broken ground on two more that will be just as impressive. 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. Remember, you can always reach out to us on Twitter at @MFIndustryFocus, or drop us an email at [emailprotected] As always, people on the program may have interest in the stocks they talk about and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against, so don't buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. AppHarvest reaffirms guidance on full-year 2021 net revenue of $21 million and Adjusted EBITDA of ($41) million provided during its Analyst Day presentation on December 15, 2020. Is there any one thing or is it a collection of many things? I cant say this was the exact plan but what accelerated all of this was Covid-19, AppHarvest CEO Jonathan Webb told AFN. Are we perfect? AppHarvest, which went public in February in an IPO that brought it $475 million in gross proceeds, is an ambitious venture. I write about the future of food, business, and culture. We've had one of our wettest decades on state record. The other thing is scale. In 1985, he joined Bristol Rugby and won the John Player Cup. Jonathan was named one the Top 30 Most Influential Lawyers in Washingtonians 2018 list upon graduation. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*. Let's force that rigor early. Fresh Take: A Make-Or-Break Food Trade Show, Inside The Food Labor Movement: An Update From Starbucks Front Lines, Its The Gourmet Toast Driving Expansion At Toastique, Fungi-Based Protein Company Meati Launches Scientific Advisory Board To Support Scale-Up, Nutrition Research, City Saucery Takes Pride In Its Ugly Tomato Sauces, By Helping The Ukrainian Community In Manhattan, Veselka Earns A James Beard Nomination For Outstanding Restaurant, French Wine Region Bourgogne Should No Longer Be Translated To Burgundy. AppHarvest Went From Seed to $1 Billion in Just 3 Years