Local Bounti Named as Exclusive CEA Honoree on the TIME World's Growth Leaders 2026 List; Kathleen Valiasek Comments

HAMILTON, MO - Local Bounti Corporation, a breakthrough U.S. indoor agriculture company, announced that it has been named to TIME's World's Growth Leaders 2026. The list recognizes 1,000 companies globally across industries for exceptional revenue growth, financial stability, and stock performance over the past five years.

Within the food and beverage category, only 25 organizations worldwide received the designation, and Local Bounti was honored as the only Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) company to make the list.

"Local Bounti was founded on the belief that growing food closer to where people live is a more sustainable approach to agriculture," said Kathleen Valiasek, President and Chief Executive Officer of Local Bounti, in a recent release. "Being featured as the only CEA company named to the World's Growth Leaders list reinforces the conviction that we're doing the right work to make a lasting impact to improve our food system. The largest retailers around the world are increasingly designing supply chains that treat controlled environment agriculture as permanent infrastructure, and Local Bounti is positioned at the center of that inflection. This recognition reflects the momentum the entire team has built and I'm proud of what we've accomplished."

The 2026 recognition reflects Local Bounti's continued execution across strategic pillars that are driving its growth trajectory:

• Technology-Protected Competitive Advantage: In February 2026, Local Bounti was issued a U.S. Patent covering its proprietary computer vision and AI-driven growing optimization — core components of its patented Stack & Flow Technology® platform — which has contributed to yield increases that are now at the highest levels in Company history.
• Expanding Blue-Chip Retail Partnerships: Local Bounti's commercial momentum continued to accelerate in the first quarter of 2026, with the launch of two new retail accounts and new supply agreement extensions with existing partners.
• Operational Discipline Driving Financial Performance: Following the Company's strong performance in 2025 where it achieved revenue growth of 27%, in the first quarter of 2026, the Company grew revenue by an additional 15% while improving its adjusted EBITDA loss¹ by 35% year-over-year.

^{1 Adjusted EBITDA loss is a non-GAAP measure. See the reconciliation of this non-GAAP measure to the most directly comparable GAAP measure in our most recent earnings release at investors.localbounti.com.}