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US vertical farming company AeroFarms said it has secured funding to continue operations, following the announcement of its closure last week.

The company submitted a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice to the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement in early December, stating that it would be ceasing operations at its Virginia site and terminating the jobs of its 173 employees due to withdrawn financial support from its largest investor.

However, in a U-turn move announced on 19 December, the indoor farming company revealed that it would now be continuing to operate and supply microgreens to customers and shoppers across the US retail market.

While AeroFarms said it was previously provided with ‘sudden and unexpected’ notice that it would not receive the necessary funding to continue operations, the company’s circumstances have ‘evolved rapidly’ since.

AeroFarms confirmed that an existing stakeholder has agreed to provide funding, enabling the company to remain in operation and explore further strategic investment options.

In its statement, the company said: “AeroFarms is deeply grateful to its employees, partners, vendors, customers and stakeholders for their unwavering support of AeroFarms and belief in the power of its highly differentiated microgreens products”.