Here is an overview of the ‘growth’, in the very literal meaning of the world, startups of the region. These companies are trying to bring the joyful experience of being a gardener into everybody’s home and office. Without actually any need for doing anything about it.
After all, three startups from the ArcticStartup region, are seeking crowdfunding in the region: Estonia’s Click & Grow, Finlands Fresh Wall and Indoor Garden. Click & Grow as well as Indoor Garden are aiming to allow you to grow a variety of plants at home without any gardening knowledge, skills or time investments. Fresh Wall, on the other hand, as the name suggests is going to put a huge wall of self-watering plants in your house or office.
Click & Grow only started their campaign last week and reached $55,000 out of their $75,000 goal in less than 23 hours. As of writing this article, they have raised a $172,670. They have the benefit of already being a successful company with 50,000 units of Click & Grow sold worldwide. The crowdfunding campaign centers around their new product which in comparison to the old product allows you to grow more than one plant at a time and adds a built-in light. The main core of Click & Grow is the nano-material that the plants grow in.
Indoor Garden is also coming out with a product that you can put on your table top. They too have plenty of experience with their old product, which sold more than 13,000 units. Unlike Click & Grow, however, they are going for equity crowdfunding through Fundedbyme and are trying to raise €175,000 in return for 17.5% in equity. Also, unlike Click & Grow, they use hydroponic cultivation. It is a very fancy way of saying: no soil. At this time, they have not yet started the investment round. Given the success of Click & Grow, they might want to hurry things up.
The two units look similar, perhaps a little too similar. The main difference is of course the way you grow the plants. For instance Click & Grow will sell cartridges with plants that will grow through their normal lifecycle and then you need to get the refill. Indoor Garden allows you to use seeds. Click & Grow seems easier (virtually no maintenance), while Indoor Garden is much cheaper with refills and a little bit more maintenance (15 minutes/month).
However as in any good situation, there is always the third way. This is where Fresh Wall comes in, which is currently in the midst of a crowding campaign of their own. They are raising €140,000 on Indiegogo and are literally going to place a wall of plants in your home or office. The startup focuses on fresh air more than others as a result. They got to a great start with their campaign and sold out all of the “Early Bird” Fresh Walls. However there is still plenty of standard Fresh Walls. They also promise zero maintenance.
So which one should you get? That’s really a question of taste and preference. If you are into mass production and fresh air – get Fresh Wall. If you like freedom of choice and cheaper maintenance costs, get Indoor Garden. Finally if you like zero maintenance, Click & Grow is your best bet.
Personally I backed Click & Grow because I really do require zero maintenance and because it seemed like it would arrive at my doorstep faster. However I am sure that our office needs a Fresh Wall and my wife would probably prefer Indoor Garden. The choice is yours.
Here are all of the videos:
Fresh Wall:
Indoor Garden:
Herb:ie indoor garden from Markus Nilsson on Vimeo.
Click & Grow:
Image Courtesy of Shutterstock / Green Grass
