grobo.io It’s never been more important to have control over what you’re consuming, and to know what’s in your food and medicine. But home growing and getting the correct growing parameters is very difficult, especially for busy professionals. Grobo aims to change this with an easy-to-use hydroponic grow box called the Grobo One. It is a system that takes the guesswork out of growing small crops of high quality food and cannabis. It’s beautifully designed and fits seamlessly into people’s homes and lives.
What’s New After a successful reservation campaign in Summer 2016 (where pre-orders had to be closed early due to overwhelming demand), Grobo One units are ready to start shipping to first customers on April 20, 2017, making the Canadian startup first to execute this technology. A second, very limited reservation campaign of Grobo Ones will open on April 20 via the company’s website for US and Canadian customers. Units will cost $1,599 USD if paid in one installment, or $1,699 USD with a $300 deposit.
The System Grobo One is an app-controlled, indoor gardening system that puts you in control of what you consume. It minimizes the time, space, and knowledge required to grow fresh food and medicine so you spend less time gardening, and more time enjoying your plants. ● ● ● ●
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Design-Minded - The fully enclosed system measures 14” x 14” x 4’ and is constructed with aluminum, plastic and high quality Canadian hardwoods (hard maple). Organic - Grobo One’s nutrients and growing medium allow users to adjust the pH. Refills can be purchased directly from the online store. Advanced Lighting - lighting cycles and wavelength/spectrum of 53 LEDs (color and intensity) can be adjusted to promote compact and dense plant growth. Energy-Conscious - Consumes on average ~100W (1.8 kWh) of electricity. This is equivalent to a ceiling fan and will cost about $0.20 USD per day. LEDs are expected to last over 100,000 hours. Versatile - Fluid glass front panel transitions from clear to opaque while allowing users to enjoy their beautiful plants without disturbing their environment. Autonomous - The hydroponic system automatically adjusts based on water conditions and holds 11 litres of water. Odor-Free - Activated charcoal (carbon) minimizes smells a plant may produce."
Pest-Free - By using a unique coconut growing medium, the risk of soil borne pests is eliminated.
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grobo.io
What you can Grow Users can create custom grow recipes to grow vegetables, herbs, medicine, fruit, greens and flowers. Some of the most popular ones include tomatoes, beans, peppers, basil, saffron, medicinal cannabis, chamomile, strawberries, mandarins, dwarf lemons, kale, wheatgrass, orchids, and lavender.
The App ● ● ● ● ●
Plug & Play - Select the plant you want to grow and the system runs a pre-loaded and optimized grow recipe. Advanced Analytics - Grobo One tracks all plant growth variables including plant height and the amount of nutrients your plant is consuming. Manual Controls - Advanced growers can manually create or adjust grow recipes to get the best possible yields. Community Sharing - Easily share growing recipes with your friends and the Grobo community so that everyone has the best possible grows. Support - Have questions? Contact the Grobo team at
[email protected].
How it Works Included in the reservation package is a fully assembled Grobo One system, a nutrient pack, and the proprietary growth medium. Using Grobo One is as simple as 1, 2, 3: 1. Add your seeds and water to Grobo One 2. Tell the app what you planted 3. Sit back and relax while Grobo One cares for your plants Grobo One’s advanced soil growing and hydroponics tech continuously monitors and adjusts your plant’s environment to ensure it has the perfect light, water, nutrients, and temperature to flourish. If the system requires attention, you’ll receive a notification outlining exactly what is required. Users can also share growing recipes with the online community.
Cannabis Grobo is committed to ensuring that medicinal cannabis patients are able to access and grow a consistent, high quality supply of medication to improve their quality of life. The company is also supportive of users within legal recreational states who have the right to grow. At the same time, Grobo For images and video assets, please visit the the Press Kit
grobo.io does not encourage illegal cannabis cultivation, and asks that customers ensure that cultivation is legal in their place of residence. A lock has also been added to the system to ensure that children are not able to open a Grobo One if cannabis is being grown inside.
The Team Grobo is dedicated to applying cutting edge technology with the latest in horticulture research to build solutions that will help people connect with their plants and grow their own fresh food and medicine. The team includes experts in mechanical and electrical engineering, horticulture, marketing, firmware, software, manufacturing and prototyping.
Bjorn Dawson, Co-Founder & CEO Comes from a family of entrepreneurs and has started and sold two small companies already.
Chris Thiele, Co-Founder & CTO An avid hardware hacker and enjoys growing bonsai trees. Has worked at Thalmic Labs and BlackBerry.
Team Members: Bruno Alfano-Rizzo, Software Lead; Stephen Campbell, Horticulture Lead; Stefanie Chan, Marketing Lead; Bohan Zhang, Firmware Engineer; Jason Kent, Mechanical Lead; Simon Ho, Manufacturing Engineer; Sean Archer, Prototyping Lead; Zack MacLennan, Electrical Engineer
Founding Story Bjorn Dawson vividly remembers cutting into a watermelon he had grown and being surprised to find seeds inside. He had been so used to the genetically modified fruit from the grocery store, and saw this as a clear example of how distanced we are from what fresh food should be.
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grobo.io Grobo was originally founded by Dawson after he began gardening and fell in love with the taste of fresh, homegrown food. Unfortunately, as a Canadian, the winter months made it impossible for him to enjoy homegrown food for most of the year. After hacking together a mini greenhouse for his living room, Bjorn decided to start Grobo so that everyone could easily enjoy home grown food. In January, after hearing from multiple medicinal cannabis patients who wanted a system like Grobo One to help take the work out of growing the medicine that they rely on, the Grobo team pivoted towards helping both food growers and the medicinal cannabis market.
Milestones ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
April 2014 - Grobo was founded July 2014 - Chris joined to co-found Grobo July 2014 - Won the Velocity Fund Finals for $25K January 2016 - Participated in HAX in Shenzhen, China August 2016 - First reservation campaign began October 2016 - Reservation campaign closed early due to overwhelming demand April 2017 - Production begins April 20, 2017 - Shipments of Grobo One begin to first customers; Very limited, second reservation campaign for Grobo One begins
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