As Central Valley Farmlands Suffer Fire and Drought, a New Vertical Farm Is Sprouting — in Compton

Francesca Billington

Francesca Billington is a freelance reporter. Prior to that, she was a general assignment reporter for dot.LA and has also reported for KCRW, the Santa Monica Daily Press and local publications in New Jersey. She graduated from Princeton in 2019 with a degree in anthropology.

As Central Valley Farmlands Suffer Fire and Drought, a New Vertical Farm Is Sprouting — in Compton

Tech agricultural unicorn Plenty is gearing up to hire 50 full-time employees to run a new vertical farm monitored by robots in Compton.

The farm, which will open in 2021, will grow leafy greens and Driscoll's branded strawberries, showcasing Plenty's indoor hydroponic farming. CEO and co-founder Matt Barnard says it's more efficient than traditional farming, which is weather-sensitive and requires large plots of land.


"We're severely straining our environment," said Barnard, a former tech executive who grew up on a farm in Wisconsin. "Plenty farms aren't vulnerable to nature's threats, such as storms, flooding, heat, pests and pathogens the way outdoor farms are."

And they're unlike the popular images of commercial farms that stretch acre after acre of a single crop. Plenty's farm grows up instead of out.

Green walls of lettuce and arugula grow on vertically stacked beds, using less than 5% of the water required for traditional agriculture and less than 1% of the space. Since shelter-in-place began, the company has shipped out two to three times more food every week.

The San Francisco-based startup will get a boost from the $140 million Series D round it announced last week, led by Softbank, along with berry grower Driscoll's Inc., to establish its second facility. Their first farm was on Google's Mountain View campus, where the company tested hundreds of crop varieties before stocking stores with greens in the Bay Area.

The Compton facility will help Plenty supply 431 Albertsons-owned grocery stores with strawberries and greens across the state — including Safeway, Vons and Pavilions — in a deal struck this summer.

Moving to Compton

Barnard's team looked at over 180 site options across L.A. before settling on a location in Compton, which he calls "a perfect spot" because of the city's agricultural history that harks back centuries and is evident in Richland Farms, a still-rural area. He was also interested in the high density of households lacking access to healthy food.

The 50 new positions for growers, technicians, logistics and operations managers at the Compton farm will be posted by the end of the month, spokesperson Jane Gideon said.

The move down to L.A. is likely the first in a series of new farms Plenty is planning to build. What began in late 2018 as a line of boxed produce sold in Bay Area grocery chains can now be found in retailers such as Whole Foods.

For an industry that didn't exist seven years ago, vertical farming is thriving, Dickson Despommier, professor emeritus of Public and Environmental Health at Columbia University told dot.LA. He coined the term vertical farm in 1999.

"In Los Angeles, you don't have to go too far to get into the fire zone and once you're there you realize that it used to be farmland," Despommier said. "The Central Valley of California is doomed. And by the way, how do you think they're trying to put out those fires? They're using water that would ordinarily be used for irrigation."

He said that not everyone is sold on the idea of growing food inside. Part of the marketing challenge for companies like Plenty is reassuring consumers and buyers that their produce is just as healthy (if not moreso) as traditionally grown produce.

"They think that farming outdoors is natural and farming indoors is unnatural," he said.

Still, it's catching on.

On Tuesday, BrightFarms, which also grows produce in hydroponic farms and sells it in retailers like Kroger and Walmart, announced a $100 million raise. The New York-based company is currently developing three new farms in North Carolina, Massachusetts and Texas, they said in a statement.

The first company Despommier heard of that was growing food indoors was Newark-based AeroFarms, which was funded by investors including Goldman Sachs as well as the city of Newark, which saw it as a hiring opportunity for its residents. A similar social mission defines Vertical Harvest in Jackson, Wyoming, a company that hires employees with developmental disabilities such as Down Syndrome and Autism.

The Indoor Model

Plenty wants to churn out accessible produce that also tastes better, a way of encouraging consumers to buy more because it's "the most desirable option."

"One of the missions of Plenty is to move the world from a calorie-rich diet to a nutrient-rich one," Barnard said. "That means more plants that taste amazing."

The components that determine flavor in crops include light, climate, water and stress, Barnard said, which the agricultural industry can't manipulate simultaneously on outdoor farms.

"Now that we can control things like light and climate recipes, we have the privilege to control flavor," he said. "We view our competition as all the stuff in the middle of the store — highly processed foods with lots of sugar."

Back at Plenty's first farm, employees would walk the produce to the Google cafe to ask chefs for instant feedback on fresh arugula and bok choy. The startup now owns a research farm in Laramie, Wyoming, where scientists test plant varieties and growing conditions, and a production farm in South San Francisco.

Their line of pesticide-free produce like baby kale and lettuce mixes are ready to eat out of the box because human hands don't touch them. Even though robots and sensors manage daily tasks like watering plants and purifying the facility air, Plenty hasn't cut out human work.

A 4.5 ounce box of Plenty greens sells for $4.99 on Instacart, and prices will remain consistent as products are stocked in the organic sections of grocery stores across the state.

The company went with Albertsons in hopes of reaching the largest number of consumers in California. The retail giant reported this week that business in its retail stores rose 13.8% during its second quarter, which ended on September 12.

Like most of its competitors, Plenty only sells leafy greens at the moment. But that will change with the Compton farm, which will grow strawberries as well.

Plenty and Driscolls have begun early stages of research and development for their strawberries at an indoor farm in Wyoming. Testing will be completed before the companies roll out their production in Compton, senior VP of Global R&D at Driscoll's Scott Komar said.

He added that his company, now an investor of Plenty, backs the startup for two reasons: the promise of "controlled growing environments" and the chance to move fruit production to underserved locations.

"These opportunities go beyond berries," Komar said.

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⚖️FTC’s "Click to Cancel" Rule and Its Ripple Effect on Tech

🔦 Spotlight

Happy Friday Los Angeles,

The FTC’s new “Click to Cancel” rule is shaking up subscription-based tech. Now, instead of navigating a maze of cancellation hurdles, users can cancel subscriptions as easily as they signed up—with a single click. This shift is a wake-up call for SaaS, streaming, and app-based companies, where once-hidden exit options often kept users around simply because canceling was a hassle.

The rule also requires businesses to send regular renewal reminders, ensuring customers stay informed about upcoming charges. It's more than a cancellation button—it’s about transparency and giving users control over their decisions.

For startups, the impact goes deeper than UX adjustments. Many have relied on "dark patterns," which subtly discourage cancellations by hiding the exit. Now, companies must shift toward building genuine loyalty by delivering real value, not by complicating exits.

While this might affect retention rates initially, it could lead to more sustainable business models that rely on satisfaction-driven loyalty. Investors may start prioritizing companies that emphasize transparent, long-term engagement over those that depend on dark patterns to maintain retention metrics.

The rule opens the door to more ethical UX design and a truly user-centered approach across the tech industry. It may even set a precedent against manipulative design in other areas, such as privacy settings or payment methods.

Ultimately, the “Click to Cancel” rule presents an opportunity for the tech industry to foster trust and build stronger customer relationships. Startups and established companies that embrace transparency will likely stand out as leaders in a new era of customer-centric tech, where trust—not tricky design—is what retains users.

As the tech landscape continues to evolve, LA Tech Week 2024 offers a chance to explore these shifts in real-time. Check out the upcoming event lineups to stay informed and make the most of your time:

For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.


🤝 Venture Deals

LA Companies

  • Ghost, a company supporting top brands and retailers with streamlined logistics and fulfillment solutions, raised a $40M Series C funding round led by L Catterton to fuel its continued growth and innovation. - learn more

LA Venture Funds
  • Assembly Ventures participated in a $27M Series A round for Monogoto, a provider of software-defined connectivity solutions that enable secure, cloud-based IoT and cellular network management on a global scale. - learn more
  • Angeleno Group participated in a $32M Series C round for REsurety, a company that recently launched an innovative clean energy marketplace aimed at providing better financial and operational insights to support renewable energy transactions. - learn more

    Download the dot.LA App

    🌴🧑‍💻 Your Guide to LA Tech Week 2024

    🔦 Spotlight

    Happy Friday Los Angeles,

    As many of you know, LA Tech Week is right around the corner, kicking off next Monday October 14th bringing together founders, creatives, investors, and engineers for a week of immersive events, panels, and socials across the city. From blockchain and AI to biotech and design, LA Tech Week is a chance to dive into the ideas shaping today’s technology landscape.


    What to Look Forward To

    Insights from Visionary Leaders: Hear firsthand from industry trailblazers as they share stories, challenges, and key lessons from their experiences. Expect fresh perspectives on AI, venture capital, biotech, and the ethical questions around emerging technologies.

    Interactive Panels: This week isn’t about watching from the sidelines; it’s about engaging directly with the tech community. Participate in hands-on panels discussing everything from startup scaling to ethical AI, with honest insights from those actively shaping these fields.

    Networking Mixers & Social Events: Meet and connect with founders, VCs, developers, designers, and fellow techies across LA. Rooftop mixers, lunch meetups, and creative gatherings offer the perfect chance to spark ideas and collaborate.

    Plan your week with the daily lineup, organized by location for easy navigation:

    For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

    Enjoy LA Tech Week 2024!!


    🤝 Venture Deals

    LA Companies

    • Clout Kitchen, a Los Angeles and Manila based startup, has raised $4.45M in seed funding, co-led by a16z SPEEDRUN and Peak XV’s Surge, to develop AI-powered digital twins, which enables gaming creators to produce realistic virtual avatars for content and fan engagement. - learn more
    • MeWe, a privacy-focused social media platform, has raised an initial $6M in Series B funding led by McCourt Global to support Web3 integration and expand its decentralized network for 20 millions users. - learn more

      LA Venture Funds
      • EGB Capital participated in a $10M Series A funding round for MiLaboratories, which develops software that enables biologists to independently analyze complex genomic data, accelerating research and discovery in fields like drug development. - learn more
      • Crosscut Ventures participated in the $13.75M seed round for Airloom Energy, a company focused on developing airborne wind energy technology to harness high-altitude winds, with plans to accelerate a pilot project in Wyoming. - learn more
      • Overture VC participated in a $5.5M Seed funding round for Molg Inc., a company developing robotics and software for circular manufacturing, designed to disassemble electronics efficiently and recover valuable materials to reduce e-waste and support sustainable production. - learn more


        LA Exits

        • Options MD, a Los Angeles based telemedicine platform that provides care for people suffering from severe and treatment-resistant mental illness, is set to be acquired by Resilience Lab, an AI-driven provider focused on enhancing mental health care access. - learn more

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        LA Tech Week 2024: Saturday-Sunday Event Lineup
        tech-week

        Here’s what’s happening during the closing weekend (Oct 19 - Oct 20) of LA Tech Week 2024! Events are organized by location so you can easily catch the sessions that interest you most.

        SATURDAY EVENTS

        BEVERLY HILLS

        12:00 PM

        • BIG Showcase (Invite Only):

        BIG Showcase (Invite Only)

        2:00 PM

        Light Dao

        Struck Capital, Seahorse Express

        EAGLE ROCK

        12:00 PM

        Sunrise Integration, Shopify

        EL SEGUNDO

        9:00 PM

        Administratum, Valar Atomics

        HOLLYWOOD

        10:00 AM

        Passes

        MALIBU

        6:00 PM

        • Malibu Beachfront Investors Networking & Wine Tasting:See Details

        Gaya Ventures

        MARINA DEL RAY

        6:00 PM

        • Awaken Your Spirit: A Journey of Transformation (Invite Only)

        Sagos Distro, Alma Wellness

        SANTA MONICA

        7:00 AM

        Founders Running Club

        8:30 AM

        Techstars

        9:00 AM

        Magic Mind

        StartupStarter, Inc., City of Santa Monica

        10:00 AM

        Gen She

        AI LA

        Crea, Barry's, Unsubscribe

        10:30 AM

        Plantologist

        11:30 AM

        • Pickleball Palooza (Invite Only)

        YouTube

        1:00 PM

        • Realfren Games: From strangers to an inner Realfren within 52 weekends: See Details

        Office for Humanity and Circuit Works

        • Talking blockchain technology with special guests: See Details

        LadyDayDao

        5:00 PM

        KARD, What's Plots

        THE VALLEY

        7:00 AM

        Camino5

        VENICE

        9:00 AM

        Westside Yogis

        11:00 AM

        Open App

        1:00 PM

        Ripe and Teddy's Hot House

        4:00 PM

        • Fashion Forward: How AI is Redefining the Fashion Industry: See Details

        VIAVIA, BNTO.RENT, ALMA.AI

        VIRTUAL

        11:00 AM

        BLCK UNICRN

        WEST HOLLYWOOD

        7:00 PM

        Next Sequence

        SUNDAY EVENTS

        INGLEWOOD

        12:00 PM

        Entrepreneur Ventures, VCPE GROUPS

        PLAYA DEL RAY

        2:00 PM

        AI LA, DELL, NVIDIA

        SANTA MONICA

        10:00 AM

        • Women Founders, Cold Brew & Beach View, Rooftop: See Details

        Clutch Talent

        11:00 AM

        11DollarSunglasses.com, Less Litter Foundation

        12:00 PM

        Data in LA, Amplitude

        12:30 AM

        New Moon, Warner UK Innovations

        TOPANGA CANYON

        3:00 PM

        Dreamore

        VENICE

        8:00 AM

        • Surf session with founders, investors, creators: See Details

        Surfed Club, Bow Shock

        12:00 PM

        • Podcast Panel and Brunch: LA Tech Community Builders: See Details

        WeAreLATech.com, Blankspaces.com

        VIRTUAL

        2:00 PM

        BLCK UNICRN


        For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

        Enjoy LA Tech Week 2024!


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