In 2013, during their time at MIT, students Jamie Byron and Gabe Blanchet brainstormed the idea of people supporting themselves by growing food at home, in a personal “grove.” They designed a gardening system and connected it to an app, allowing users to personalize the environment of their grove to their needs and plants. The app only controls a few things, lighting schedule, what nutrients go into the water and the specific type of plants that are grown. The two designed an aquaponic system, basically a farm on top of a fish tank, where the fish provide specific types of nutrients for the soil and the food. Their current product is small a small scale operation, meant only for an individual or a family. But the technology has the potential for for a much larger scale and has piqued the interest of small US growers and even Middle Eastern green houses. In 2014 Grove Labs received 2 million in funding and has created a successful product. It’s amazing to see how an idea grew from two college students in a dorm room into a successful business and also something that’s good for the environment.
This is such an intriguing idea. Not only is a great idea to provide for a family, it is quite decorative as well. I love that some of the components can be controlled through an app! Thanks for sharing.
This is awesome! I would totally be interested in something like this. After an entire semester eating cafeteria food, fresh produce is something I would pay for.
So cool! I’d definitely be interested in looking into something like this. This product also works really well with the current “green trend”. People want to be kind to the earth and what better way then to grow your own food.