Latest news with #Plenty
Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Wealthsimple Acquires Plenty Team To Improve Family Finance
Plenty cofounders Emily Luk and Channing Allen now part of the Wealthsimple team. In April 2025, Wealthsimple made a quiet but strategic acqui-hire, bringing on the entire team from Plenty, a U.S.-based fintech startup focused on financial planning for couples. While the Plenty platform shut down shortly after, the acquisition was never about the product—it was about people. By integrating a team with deep insight into modern household finances, the Wealthsimple Plenty acquisition exemplifies a different way a startup can continue its work after it closes its doors. When fintech firms acquire early-stage startups, it is sometimes not for the tech or customer base, but for the talent and vision. Known as acqui-hires, these deals offer a faster way to onboard cohesive teams with proven domain expertise. For Wealthsimple, the Plenty acquisition wasn't about IP. It was about acquiring a team uniquely attuned to the financial needs of modern couples. Acqui-hires are not uncommon in a competitive tech hiring environment. In these scenarios, cultural fit can outweigh existing traction or product-market fit. A majority (65%) of acquirers report that cultural issues hinder their ability to realize the full value of a deal. 'We immediately saw a natural alignment between Plenty and Wealthsimple,' said Chris Arsenault, founder of Inovia Capital, an investor in both companies. 'This wasn't just strategic—it was a win-win for the over 3 million Canadians using Wealthsimple.' Tim Kalimov, Wealthsimple's VP of product, echoed that sentiment, 'The team at Plenty shares our belief that financial services should be simple, smart, and accessible. They've built an impressive product that helps families take control of their financial lives—something we care deeply about.' Plenty wasn't just another budgeting tool—it was purpose-built to address a reality that many fintechs had overlooked: Couples manage money together, but often with a mix of joint and individual priorities. 'What does a truly multiplayer experience look like for today's modern couples, across saving, investing, budgeting, and tracking?' asked co-founder Emily Luk. That was the question Plenty set out to answer. The platform had three core pillars: automated goal-based financial planning, real-time budgeting and savings tracking, and a 'Mine, Yours, Ours' model for account visibility. This model resonated with millennial and Gen Z users who expect both transparency and autonomy in managing shared finances. It also filled a gap in Wealthsimple's roadmap, which has increasingly focused on household financial tools, such as joint accounts, spousal Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs), and Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs). 'The future of financial planning will be powered by both smart technology and real human connection,' said Kalimov. 'The Plenty team's experience will help us design smarter, more connected products that reflect how people actually manage money together.' While the product vision aligned, the acquisition hinged on something more profound: culture. 'It's pretty rare for companies to meet with such a similar mission and culture,' said Luk. 'We saw a chance to accelerate our roadmap and reach a scale of millions, while staying true to our original vision.' Introduced by their mutual investor, the two companies began with informal discussions about their products. Over time, those discussions evolved into a shared understanding of how financial services should be built: with empathy, flexibility, and a clear comprehension of customer behavior. Plenty's product officially shut down in May 2025. Its users were referred to alternative tools, though many now need multiple platforms to match the functionality that Plenty offered in one. Meanwhile, team members—including Luk and co-founder and husband Channing Allen—joined Wealthsimple full-time, with Luk joining the product team and Allen leading engineering contributions. The team remains U.S.-based but is now building for the Canadian market. 'This acquisition gave us the opportunity to take our product vision and implement it with the resources and reach we simply didn't have as a startup,' said Luk. 'It's not the end of our mission—it's a new chapter of scale.' The Wealthsimple Plenty acquisition illustrates how acqui-hires can help some startups exit. As customer needs grow more nuanced, especially around shared financial decision-making, companies are realizing they can't always build fast enough from within. Strategic acqui-hires offer a way to absorb experience, user research, and design intelligence that would take years to replicate. For Wealthsimple, it's a step toward becoming the default financial platform for Canadian families. For Plenty, it's a chance to expand their mission—and impact—on a national scale. And for the broader fintech ecosystem, the deal shows what's possible when acquisitions are built around more than spreadsheets. As Luk put it, 'It would've taken us years to reach a point where we could impact millions. This deal lets us do that immediately.' Acqui-hires, when rooted in mission alignment and product fit, are becoming more than a talent strategy—they're a growth strategy. The Wealthsimple Plenty acquisition is a prime example of how fintechs can build faster and smarter by investing in people, not just platforms.
USA Today
29-04-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Strawberries in the sky: How AI is changing the way farmers grow food year-round
Strawberries in the sky: How AI is changing the way farmers grow food year-round Plenty Richmond Farm in Chesterfield, Va., is getting a lot of attention these days, and for very good reason. It's doing something that's never been done in a place you might not expect — an industrial park warehouse. Inside, you'll see row after row of strawberries hanging from 30-foot towers suspended from the ceiling. While most vertical farms are made up of stacked horizontal systems, Plenty Richmond Farm is growing the produce on movable, vertical towers nearly two stories high. Not only does it look futuristic, this innovative approach uses 97 percent less land and up to 90 percent less water than conventional farming, according to the San Francisco-based company. It uses artificial intelligence to analyze more than 10 million data points throughout a dozen rooms each day. With a patent-pending method, Plenty has even engineered the pollination process by evenly distributing airflow across the strawberry flowers — no bees necessary. 'The Plenty Richmond Farm is the culmination of 200 research trials over the past six years to perfect growing strawberries with consistent peak-season flavor indoors year-round,' Arama Kukutai, Plenty's CEO, said in a press release. The farm opened in September 2024 and is touted the first farm in the world to grow indoor, vertically farmed berries at scale. The goal: to produce more than 4 million pounds of strawberries annually — even in the middle of winter — on a piece of land that is a fraction of the size of Central Park. The first batch of strawberries, grown exclusively for Driscoll's, was scheduled for delivery earlier this year. Beyond Earth Vertical farming even has applications in space. The USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS) is working with NASA to develop growing systems suitable for spaceflight applications since food production in zero-gravity or low-gravity is key for long-term space exploration. 'Nutrients in prepackaged foods degrade over time, and thus only have an estimated shelflife of approximately 18 months,' says James Altland, a research leader for USDA ARS. 'Because there is very little room to grow crops on space stations or within future extraterrestrial ground-based installations, optimizing vertical farming systems will be critical to ensure astronaut health under long duration missions,' says USDA ARS molecular biologist Chris Dardick. As part of a long-term cooperative agreement between USDA and The Walt Disney Company, biotechnology is being used to adapt crops such as plums and apples for production in NASA plant-growth systems. It's all being done at Walt Disney World's Epcot Center in The Land Pavilion. Future of vertical farming There's a lengthy list of benefits when it comes to vertical farming, including extended growing seasons, water conservation, and expanded local and regional food options. And vertical farms can be built in places with extreme weather, areas that do not have quality soil and urban settings. Plenty, for example, has operated a research center in Laramie, Wyo., for nearly a decade. Last September, the company received $20 million — the largest economic development grant ever given by the state — to expand its research and development footprint and build the world's largest vertical farming research center. Plenty also has plans to build five farms in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates — where 80 percent of the land is desert — over the next five years to grow peak-season-flavor strawberries. Significant obstacles to the long-term profitability of vertical farming remain, however. 'Energy costs are the primary cost to vertical farms, so improvements in energy efficiency with lighting and dehumidification are needed for long-term success,' Dardick says. 'In addition, success of vertical farms will depend on maximizing crop yields and quality.' And many crops are not suited to vertical farming, because they are too large, because of seasonality or because of cold dormancy before they flower. 'These crops can be bred to be smaller (and) produce continuously but this will take considerable research investments, similar to what has been done to maximize conventional farming systems,' Dardick says.
Los Angeles Times
24-04-2025
- General
- Los Angeles Times
Readers reflect on their most treasured cookbooks and recipes
What priceless items would you grab when fleeing disaster? It's a sobering question that thousands of Angelenos were forced to answer when wildfires erupted across the region in January. That experience made us curious about our own emotional attachment to cookbooks and the titles that have had the most impact on our cooking. Our Food writers — and a handful of local chefs and culinary figures — recently rounded up 62 cookbooks that we can't live without, spanning memoirs, out-of-print pamphlets, collector's items and forthcoming releases. We also invited L.A. Times readers to share the cookbooks they cherish most, including the recipes that they can't get enough of. Here are some of their responses: 'I also lost my cookbook collection in the Palisades fire. My daughters posted a picture of my cookbooks on their Instagram and cookbooks started arriving from all over the country,' wrote Amy Lebenzon. Lebenzon names 'Plenty' and 'Plenty More' by Yotam Ottolenghi as two favorites, and in particular Ottolenghi's Chickpea and Tomato Bread Soup, Barley and Pomegranate salad and Cabbage and Kohlrabi Salad recipes. Barbara Thompson's top five cookbooks and recipes include: Blueberry Lemon Verbena Galette from 'Pie School' by Kate Lebo; Croissant Bread Pudding from 'Barefoot Contessa' by Ina Garten; general recipe instructions in 'How to Cook Everything' by Mark Bittman; Creamed Corn and Magic Carrots from 'The Los Angeles Times California Cookbook' by Betsy Balsley; and 'Nordstrom Entertaining at Home Cookbook' by John Clem. 'All my cookbooks burned in the Palisades fire,' wrote Janet Davis. 'I've replaced my two (1976 and 1998) copies of 'Joy of Cooking,' a couple of Sunset magazine cookbooks and 'The Vegetarian Epicure Book 2' by Anna Thomas.' Davis adds that, 'My entire Thanksgiving dinner is bookmarked in the 1998 edition of 'Joy of Cooking': Cranberry Sauce, Yams with Apples, Creamed Onions, Spinach Salad, Gravy. The 1976 edition has the better split pea soup recipe; my family is waiting for a batch.' 'When my house burned down,' wrote Kim Janssen, senior director of content strategy here at The Times, 'the one personal possession I saved — beyond a small overnight bag of clothes — was a cookbook my mum handmade for me when my wife and I bought our first place in Chicago a decade ago. When she died last year, I scanned it and made a bunch of copies to give to folks at her funeral. I keep it in the kitchen and cook from it often. I love that she made a handwritten index and included oven temps inside the cover.' Amateur baker Jim Potter, who lost his house in the Eaton fire, told us about his five essential bread books: 'The Perfect Loaf: The Craft and Science of Sourdough Breads, Sweets, and More' by Maurizio Leo, 'a home baker who left his job as a software engineer to devote himself to bread. Leo maintained the Perfect Loaf website for many years before producing this indispensable book. The pictures, clear instructions, a smattering of scientific explanation and helpful recipe timelines showcase Leo's exacting analytical mind and his life's passion for baking. 'Trained as a chemical engineer, Melissa Weller changed careers after baking every recipe in Nancy Silverton's foundational 'Breads From the La Brea Bakery.' Her subsequent training, and her experience as head baker, not least at Per Se, shows in the precision of her recipes in 'A Good Bake.' She has the last challah recipe you'll need and the best morning glory buns you could ask for. 'My first bread book was 'Tartine' by Chad Robertson. And here is the great irony: The recipes in this book and its sequels are deeply unclear and practically impossible to follow. Yet somehow 'Tartine' taught me and countless others how to make beautiful bread — and to fall in love with baking. I will be forever grateful. 'Jeffrey Hamelman, the chief baker at King Arthur, approaches his job with reverence. In 'Bread,' he writes, 'I believe that, in the lives of many bakers, an immense inner dignity develops from the daily immersion in the labor of the bake.' This is the first book I turn to when I want a recipe for a particular bread such as one made with spelt or einkorn. Hamelman always has it and with useful tips. Someday I will succeed with one of his three-state rye breads. 'Apollonia Poilâne has the best origin story of any bread book author — who can compete with her running the best bakery in Paris while a freshman at Harvard? Along with Peter Reinhart and Éric Kayser, Poilâne validates using sourdough and commercial yeast together. In 'Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery,' she has a recipe for rye and currant bread, which I make as rolls (90 to 100 grams each). Crusty on the outside, soft, studded with currants within, nourishing and just sweet enough, they're my most requested bread. After the fire, those rolls, as much as anything, assured us life would resume, even without the house we loved so much.' The cookbooks and recipes that Katie Lipsitt can't live without are: Minestrone Soup, Tomato Sauce and Meatballs from 'Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking' by Marcella Hazan; Buttermilk Chicken from 'Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat; 'all the pizzas' from 'The River Cafe Cookbook' by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers; vegetable and salad dishes from 'Nothing Fancy' by Alison Roman; and Turkey Zucchini Meatballs with Yogurt from 'Jerusalem' by Yotam Ottolenghi. 'I have my grandmother's copy of 'The Settlement Cook Book' and my mother's 'Joy of Cooking,' which I treasure. (The notes written inside are wonderful.) My favorite cookbook is 'San Francisco à La Carte,' which was published by the Junior League in the 1970s. And just to be a little silly, I have my original 'Betty Crocker Cookbook for Boys and Girls.' I used that cookbook to teach myself how to cook when I was a child in the 1950s,' wrote Margot Tobias. Heidi Haaland calls these five cookbooks 'Mandatory rereading, particularly during times of stress': 'Christmas Memories Cookbook' by editors Connie Colom, Lynn Anderson and Lois Klee with illustrator Lynn Anderson and a roster of '80s chefs and writers; 'The Country Kitchen Cook Book' by Edward Harris Heth; 'Pure & Simple: An InCircle Cookbook,' published by Nieman Marcus; 'Holiday Gifts From a Country Kitchen' by Mary Reynolds Smith; and 'A Child's Christmas Cookbook' by the Denver Museum of Art. 'When I was 18, I went to France to care for four children as an au pair. The family lived in Alsace. The mother was an American woman named Carol and married to a French man. She had a copy of 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' and taught me to cook from it. I still have my original copy that I purchased once I was back home in California. It's been my cooking bible for over 40 years. While I was in Alsace I picked up a book I still use, 'Petit Recueil de la Gastronomie Alsacienne' by Jeanne Hertzog. Carol and I often prepared Alsatian dishes like Choucroute Garnie. This little book allowed me to make many of these dishes once I was back in the States. Another book I treasure is 'Laurel's Kitchen: A Handbook for Vegetarian Cookery and Nutrition,'' wrote Charles Thompson. DeeAnn Wong refers most often to 'Burma' by Naomi Duguid for its Japanese Pickled Cucumbers, Tomato and Spinach Salad, Eggplant Salad and Egg Curry recipes; and 'Jerusalem' by Yotam Ottolenghi for Roasted chicken with Ouzo and Clementines. According to Beth Glazener, 'I use a ton of recipes that come from various magazines, cookbooks and the recipe repository on America's Test Kitchen, Cook's Country and Cook's Illustrated websites. I happen to use a bunch from 'Baking Illustrated,' like Banana Bread, Sugar Cookies, American Sandwich Bread, Whole Wheat Bread, Buttermilk Biscuits, Thick and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies, Yellow Layer Cake, Rich Chocolate Cream Frosting, Ham and Asparagus Quiche, Molasses Spice Cookies, Maple Syrup Pecan Pie and Brown Sugar and Bourbon Whipped Cream (it's to die for on top of the pecan pie).' Barbara Felsinger's go-to title is 'The Moosewood Cookbook' by Mollie Katzen. The Pea Soup, Spinach Ricotta Pie, Rebaked Stuffed Potatoes and Gazpacho are her favorite recipes. Anne Whitacre wrote that, 'I cooked my way through a 1973 edition of 'The Seasonal Kitchen: A Return to Fresh Foods' by Perla Meyers in my 20s and 30s and still return to it for recipes that are ranked easy, medium or hard and in three ranges of cost, especially Coquilles Saint-Jacques Printanier, Blueberries in Lemon Mousse; Salmon Steaks Suedoise and, of course, Spaghettini Primavera.' The most loved titles from The Times' former cartoonist for restaurant reviews, Donna Barstow, include, 'An early edition of 'Joy of Cooking' from my grandmother that's falling apart. The original chocolate mousse recipe is written as if it's perfectly normal to crave such a decadent dish, with no guilt implied. And 'The Cake Bible' by Rose Levy Beranbaum, because in the preface, she explains that she fell in love with her husband when he said he weighed science ingredients the same way she did with cake recipes! Can't resist a good love story! Plus, she invented a new way to combine ingredients: flour with butter versus sugar with butter makes a richer cake.' 'My journey into appreciating the literary qualities of cookbooks came from my own work as an author. When I finished a draft of my first book, I had spent hours and hours in libraries doing research and, as some relief, wanted to start a project that involved more physicality. We had just welcomed our second son into our family, so I also wanted a project to do at home. Thus, I cooked up the idea of working my way through an entire cookbook and landed on Alice Waters' 'Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook.' I did it over the course of several years. This project pushed me into some complex lessons that remain with me to this day, namely, to think simply about the ingredients and build a meal up from their purity. That exemplified her approach, even if her first cookbook sometimes deviated from that mission. Journeying on to more of her cookbooks, and some of those by her collegial chefs, led me to understand her original vision,' wrote Tom Kemper.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Plenty Unlimited enters Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings
Plenty Unlimited has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to keep the US-based vertical-farming business afloat as it restructures operations. The California-based company filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas court as it seeks to 'restructure its liabilities, streamline operations and focus its go-forward operations'. In a statement dated 23 March, Plenty said it has also received a "commitment" for debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing of $20.7m. Founded in 2014 by Dr Nate Storey and former CEO Matt Barnard, Plenty started out producing leafy greens and herbs in a controlled indoor environment and had partnered with long-time investor and fruit grower Driscoll's. The business had recently been branching out into strawberries and entered into a joint venture last year in the UAE with Mawarid Holding Investment, a subsidiary of publicly-listed Alpha Dhabi Holding. Plenty now aims to focus on the 'premium' strawberry market, according to the statement, which named Dan Malech as interim CEO. Arama Kukutai was appointed to head up the business early in 2022 but it is unclear if he has left the company, with no mention of any departure on his LinkedIn page. Just Food has asked Plenty to clarify. Plenty said in the Chapter 11 statement that it will continue operating its vertical strawberry farm in Richmond, California, and its research and development facility in Laramie, Wyoming. The board-approved bankruptcy filing follows Plenty's closure of its leafy greens farm in Compton, California, as announced in a LinkedIn post earlier this year, citing a 'strategic shift' to strawberries production. Malech said Plenty 'is not immune from larger market dynamics and the fundraising challenges facing our industry', adding that "after evaluating all of our strategic alternatives, we have determined that pursuing this restructuring process is in the best interests of all of the company's stakeholders". In 2023, Plenty entered an agreement with real estate investment trust Realty Income for up to $1bn in development funding for the firm's indoor vertical farms. US retail giant Walmart joined a $400m Series E investment round in 2022, building on $140m of Series D financing secured in 2020, which at the time took Plenty's total funding to $500m. With the venture with Mawarid Holding, Plenty planned to build five vertical farms in the UAE focused on strawberry production over five years. The total investment for the project was estimated at Dh2.5bn ($680.7m), with the first farm in Abu Dhabi valued at Dh500m. "Plenty Unlimited enters Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings" was originally created and published by Just Food, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Vertical Farmer Plenty, Backed by Bezos, Softbank, Files Bankruptcy
(Bloomberg) -- Plenty Unlimited Inc., a vertical farming business that's drawn backing from Jeff Bezos, SoftBank Group Corp. and Walmart, has filed for bankruptcy with a lender-backed plan to either raise capital or sell the business. They Built a Secret Apartment in a Mall. Now the Mall Is Dying. Chicago Transit Faces 'Doomsday Scenario,' Regional Agency Says Why Did the Government Declare War on My Adorable Tiny Truck? LA Faces $1 Billion Budget Hole, Warns of Thousands of Layoffs New York Subway Ditches MetroCard After 32 Years for Tap-And-Go The company on Sunday sought court protection in Texas listing more than $100 million in assets and liabilities on its Chapter 11 petition. The business comes to bankruptcy with a deal that will explore a sale of Plenty's assets or an alternative restructuring that would raise additional cash. Plenty joins other vertical farming companies that have gone bankrupt in recent years as well as a string of agriculture firms that have filed Chapter 11 so-far this year. TreeSap Farms LLC, a tree and plant supplier, sought protection last month followed by soybean seed developer Benson Hill Inc. which filed Chapter 11 last week. Plenty's backers include New York investment firm One Madison Group, Walmart and SoftBank's Vision Fund, which has funneled more than $400 million into the company, Bloomberg News reported in January. The company had been in talks to raise additional financing that would virtually wipe out exiting shareholders, Bloomberg reported. Affiliates of One Madison Group and Softbank have offered to provide the business with as much as $20.7 million in additional financing, according to court documents. The lenders earlier provided Plenty with an $8.6 million bridge loan to prepare for a potential restructuring and prevent the company from shutting down, court papers say. Plenty Interim Chief Executive Officer Daniel Malech said in a court filing that the company has closed a farm in Compton, California focused on growing leafy greens and is shifting its focus toward a state-of-the-art strawberry-growing facility in Richmond, Virginia. The fruit is 'a premium product for which demand persistently exceeds supply' and the company has been able to begin producing high-quality strawberries after nearly all construction work on the Virginia farm was halted in November, Malech said. Plenty has incurred losses since its inception and Malech blamed the bankruptcy on macroeconomic factors. Although the company has been successful in raising equity in the past, Plenty has been unable to do so since 2022, he said. The company is scheduled to make its first appearance in bankruptcy court on Monday. The case is Plenty Unlimited Texas LLC, number 25-90105, in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. --With assistance from Kate Clark. A New 'China Shock' Is Destroying Jobs Around the World How TD Became America's Most Convenient Bank for Money Launderers The Richest Americans Kept the Economy Booming. What Happens When They Stop Spending? Tesla's Gamble on MAGA Customers Won't Work One Man's Crypto Windfall Is Funding a $1 Billion Space Station Dream ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
