Fifth Season

Fifth Season, initially established as RoBotany Ltd. in 2016, was a vertical farming company that aimed to address inefficiencies in the food supply chain. The company was founded by brothers Austin and Brac Webb, and Austin Lawrence. The founders met at an entrepreneurship session at Carnegie Mellon University, where Lawrence, with a master's degree in robotics and a background in farming, shared his vision for a robotic system to grow produce. Austin Webb, who had a background in investment banking, brought his brother Brac, a systems engineer, into the fold to create a well-rounded team. Though incubated at Carnegie Mellon's Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, the university was also an investor.

The company operated in the ag-tech and vertical farming market, selling its produce to grocery stores, including major chains like Giant Eagle and Whole Foods Market, as well as local restaurants. Its business model centered on producing and selling leafy greens and ready-to-eat salads directly to retailers and, at one point, through a direct-to-consumer subscription service. Revenue was generated from the sale of these products. The company's core value proposition was providing hyper-local, pesticide-free produce with a longer shelf life, competitive with the pricing of field-grown products.

Fifth Season's primary offering was a variety of leafy greens, such as spinach, arugula, and kale, as well as herbs and salad kits. What set the company apart was its proprietary, end-to-end automated vertical farming system. This system utilized a combination of robotics, artificial intelligence, and software to manage the entire growing process, from seeding and nutrient delivery to harvesting and packaging. Their 60,000-square-foot facility in Braddock, Pennsylvania, featured a 25,000-square-foot, multi-level grow room operated by approximately 40 robots. This high level of automation significantly reduced labor costs, a major challenge in the vertical farming industry, and ensured that the produce was untouched by human hands until opened by the consumer. The controlled environment also used 95% less water and significantly less land than traditional farming methods and was partially powered by a solar microgrid.

Despite raising over $75 million in funding from investors like Drive Capital and building a technologically advanced facility, Fifth Season ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy in late 2023. The closure was attributed to the high operational costs of its sophisticated technology and the challenging economic environment for the capital-intensive vertical farming industry.

Keywords: vertical farming, ag-tech, robotics, automated agriculture, indoor farming, hydroponics, leafy greens, food supply chain, sustainable agriculture, controlled environment agriculture, local produce, urban farming, food technology, AI in agriculture, Pittsburgh startup, Carnegie Mellon, RoBotany, Braddock facility, fresh produce, salad kits, automation