Amidst the coffee makers, cookware and bartenderbots in Chicago this week at the International Home and Housewares Show, SproutsIO stood out as the one and only maker of a connected microgarden.
The SproutsIO microgarden, which allows an individual to grow vegetables in their home without soil or sunlight, is headed to market this year after a successful Kickstarter campaign last fall in which the company raised over $116 thousand. The SproutsIO will retail for $799, a price company CEO Jenny Broutin Farah believes will come down over time as they reach more efficiencies through high-volume manufacturing.
Broutin Farah told me (you can view the interview above) that one of the major benefits of SproutsIO is it grows vegetables much more quickly and efficiently than traditional soil-growing. The reason, she said, is the device can fully tailor growing conditions to each seed type, something which is difficult if outright impossible in traditional growing environments. According to Broutin Farah, SproutsIO can grow vegetables with just 2% of the water required in a traditional soil garden and 40% of the nutrients.
The company, which was one of the 15 startup showcase finalists at the Smart Kitchen Summit last October, will also monetize through selling seeds through a subscription service to user of the SproutsIO device.
You can hear the full interview above with Jenny Broutin Farah.
