If you’re like me and you’re a guy who would actually like to do some home gardening, but are entirely too lazy for such an enterprise – don’t despair! Click and Grow is a new startup with some pretty decent funding that aims to change all that. It’s actually pretty simple. It’s much like a chia pet from the 90’s but actually useful. Just add water,plug the incubator in and there you have it!
It’s going to be sold at just under $300.00 which seems a bit pricey for me. However, if you are going to make heavy use out of this thing, I can imagine it paying for itself in about a year or two. Where things get confusing is the type of dirt that’s used. It’s “proprietary nanotech Smart Soil growth medium”. Now, I’m kinda partial to straight-up dirt so I do have my eyebrow raised on this one. I still feel like the stuff is natural enough not to have to be too skeptical, but I would like to know what was in this fancy dirt.
That aside, they’ve been invited to be apart of the Y Combinator program which is notoriously hard to get into so kudos to CEO Mattias Lepp and team for such an innovative product. I wish them the best. And yes – I did ask about it’s ability to grow weed and they haven’t provided an answer just yet. (Disclaimer: I do not promote, nor do I condone the recreational use of weed) If you’re interested – the full press release is below:
Click & Grow Receives Investment From Prestigious Y Combinator Fund
And Announces New Smart Mini Farm
Smart Mini Farm Offers Consumers – For The First-Time – Ability to Grow Enough Fresh Produce For An Entire Family, Easily And For Under $300
SAN FRANCISCO (JULY 15, 2015) — Estonian-based Click & Grow, maker of automated indoor garden technologies for the home, has been selected for investment by San Francisco-based venture fund Y Combinator. The company is participating in the fund’s three-month program, with plans to launch its new Smart Mini Farm, the first product that will allow consumers to easily grow enough fresh produce for an entire family, priced under $300.
“We’re thrilled to announce investment from Y Combinator, which offers a one-of-a-kind program and is a testament to our technology and approach to indoor farming – providing easy-to-use, inexpensive solutions,” said Click & Grow CEO Mattias Lepp. “We’re are going to utilize the expertise of Y Combinator’s team and its investment to help launch our newest product, the Smart Mini Farm, which is going to revolution the way everyday people get their food.”
Click & Grow, which was established in 2009 by Lepp and is backed by Skype founder Jaan Tallinn, utilized its own proprietary nanotech Smart Soil growth medium, ultra-efficient LED grow lights and electronic precision irrigation systems to automatically provide plants with the perfect amount of water, light and nutrients. The company, which currently offers compact automated indoor garden systems for consumers, announced a new product line for large-scale vertical growing of fruits, herbs and veggies called the Smart Farm in April, which received over 2,000 initial orders and is currently in development to launch for retail in 2016.
The Smart Mini Farm, which resembles a kitchen cart, is a smaller scale of the company’s Smart Farm and utilizes the company’s Smart Soil, ultra-efficient LED grow lights and electronic precision irrigation systems. It features two trays for growing plants, both of which can grow up to 30 plants each, including kale, salad, tomatoes, chili peppers, strawberries, peppermint and many more. According to Click & Grow, the new product, which is affordably priced at $299, can grow plants 30 percent faster with 95 percent less water.
“We’re excited to welcome Click & Grow into the Y Combinator program,” said Qasar Younis, Partner at Y Combinator. “The company has proven the effectiveness of its technology with its previous products, and now, with its Smart Mini Farm, which can provide fresh produce for an entire family at a reasonable price, it has the potential to revolutionize the food industry. We’re excited about their future and looking forward to helping them hit their goals.
Y Combinator’s investment in Click & Grow is its first in a company from the Baltic region. Y Combinator has backed companies including Airbnb, Reddit, 9GAG, Dropbox, Weebly, Optimizely, Mixpanel and many others.
About Click & Grow
Founded in 2009 by Mattias Lepp in Tallinn, Estonia, Click & Grow has quickly emerged as the premium indoor garden tech company, with attractive product designs and technology solutions to enable minimal management. Among others, Click & Grow’s shareholders include Mr. Jaan Tallinn, co-founder of Skype Technologies. To date, Click & Grow has shipped hundreds of thousands of grow kits to customers all around the world. For more information on Click & Grow and its products, visit ClickandGrow.com.
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