JD Vance’s firm invested in food company now facing lawsuits

By JULIE CARR SMYTH
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A high-tech sustainable food company in Appalachia that was promoted by JD Vance and financed with help from his venture capital firm is facing five lawsuits alleging it misled investors. None of the lawsuits against Kentucky-based AppHarvest names Vance, who is Ohio’s Republican U.S. Senate nominee and left the company’s board last year. But the lawsuits could raise additional questions about the “Hillbilly Elegy” author’s efforts to revitalize his native Appalachia after leaving a lucrative career in the tech industry. AppHarvest calls the lawsuits baseless. The company’s attorneys argue the lawsuits improperly allege “fraud-by-hindsight,” prohibited because making financial projections for young public companies is complex.