SproutsIO Smart Garden

As Co-founder and CEO of SproutsIO, Jennifer leads the development of new technologies that redefine our interaction with food. Drawing from her childhood experience growing fruits and vegetables in the suburbs of Detroit, she believes the spirit of the gardener extends beyond growing plants- it represents the ability to thoughtfully nurture and participate in the world around us.

Jennifer has an M.S. in Media Arts and Sciences from the MIT Media Lab, an M.S. Advanced Architecture Design from Columbia University, and a BArch from the University of Miami. She has taught at Columbia University, Pratt Institute, and at the New York City College of Technology, and continues to lecture internationally. She was selected as an Innovation Fellow by Wired Magazine, a Tech Hero by Glamour Magazine, a finalist for the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards, and an INK Fellow.

SproutsIO Inc. was established in 2013 to shift the dependence on industrial agriculture and reposition people from the end of the supply chain to the center of their food cycle.

SproutsIO empowers us to participate in the process of growing our own Personal Produce™. We have learned that involvement through incremental change is most disruptive when scaled. A SproutsIO garden may appear small at first glance, but when millions of us grow together, we reduce our dependence on industrial agriculture, creating a more sustainable feedback loop between people and food.

In 2015, according to the World Bank and UNFAO, we reached a global inflection point where the population exceeded the cropland needed to sustain it. With population increasing and finite arable land decreasing due to land degradation, food security is at risk. Alternative solutions are necessary now that focus on providing reliable access to quality, affordable produce.

SproutsIO provides an alternative to the current industrial food system that has failed to produce delicious, nutritious food and where produce is picked prematurely and intended to ripen during transit rather than on the vine, reducing nutrient content and flavor. While organic and local produce offer alternatives, demand is high and in short supply, making prices inaccessible to the general public.

SproutsIO enables people to become producers of their own food with a focus on plant based diet. This makes our food system more participatory, and in doing so addresses global challenges such as waste, water, and energy. By anticipating ideal conditions for each plant varietal, SproutsIO cares for plants automatically and in half the grow time as soil, using 40% less nutrients and only 2% of the water while eliminating the industrial supply chain that leads to >50% of food waste.

The SproutsIO system makes it easy for anyone to enjoy the pleasure of gardening. By integrating the high performance device, SproutsIOGrow software, and comprehensive sIO seed refills, SproutsIO enables anyone to cultivate a wide range of produce from leafy greens and herbs to fruiting plants, rapidly and efficiently. No green thumb required – just water and WiFi. 

The SproutsIO device uses our proprietary hybrid hydroculture technology and provides everything your plants need throughout their lifecycle. Wavelength tuned LEDs and adjustable lamp arm mean the light source is efficient, flexible and adaptable to a wide range of plants. Onboard camera and environmental sensors keep an eye on your plants 24-7.

SproutsIO uses a combination of behind-the-scenes automation and intuitive controls. SproutsIOGrow transforms your mobile device into a versatile gardening tool, enabling you to steer your Personal Produce™ towards your preferred flavor and schedule cultivation to meet your needs with intelligent Growing Profiles to optimize plant growth. Push notifications remind you when to add water, taste, and what is next in your queue to grow with your sIO refills. Delivered on-demand, sIO refills contain everything you need to grow with SproutsIO – organic seeds, media, and nutrients in a fully compostable package.

SproutsIO has shipped 294 devices to customers and has grown 1000+ sIO seed refills over the past year to track their use and growth data. We are focused on the US market, with plans to expand globally. We are currently shipping new production units with orders to new customers.

SproutsIO technology has been tested with professional clients and home growers alike to grow consistent and reliable produce. Professional and hospitality validation aids our expansion into corporate and education environments as well as the mass consumer market.

Every step of the way we have worked with our customers to develop the SproutsIO solution, from an extensive beta testing program with home growers, to pilot programs with world class hotels and restaurants. We continue to learn from our customers daily what is most useful for their specific needs. The flexibility of our solution and the data we collect allows us to continuously improve our service. For example we are developing a learning dashboard for students in schools and a harvest/yield calculator for restaurants.

SproutsIO addresses all three dimensions in that we develop technology that enables anyone the ability to grow like a farmer by changing peoples' behavior from just consuming to producing our own food. However, the impact of SproutsIO goes beyond produce because we are improving the footprint of our food. 

We improve this footprint by reducing inputs such as the waste, water and energy that goes into producing our food, while increasing the outputs such as the quality and nutrition of the produce grown through optimizing plant growth.

Since childhood, I have been fascinated by the relationship between people and food. My professional experience is underscored by the broader relationship between people and their environment. After training as an architect, I focused on projects dealing with low-power energy harvesting, personal energy generation, and urban agriculture. My project Facade Farm, piloted with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, prototyped an exterior structural system to support the growing and harvesting of food for new construction in cities in 2009. Facade Farm prompted my research on a personal produce growing system at the MIT Media Lab in 2011, where I studied urban agriculture with technologies related to growth media, specialized sensors, automation, and networked infrastructure. I established SproutsIO in 2013 following the completion of my masters thesis, and after being selected as a finalist for the MIT 100K award, and winner of the Founder.org prize.

We are often presented with incredible challenges and led to believe that significant resources and large organizations are necessary to meet them. However, I have always believed that a thoughtful, small scale solution can have a large scale impact. I am fortunate that my work and my passions are one in the same.

I have devoted over ten years of my life to developing participatory technologies that enable a feedback loop between people and their environment. SproutsIO is an example of a small, high-leverage solution that can be adopted and implemented by many in order to affect change.

I traveled to Japan while assistant teaching at MIT to advocate for new methods of soil-free growing and address contamination. I encountered similar issues in my home city of Detroit working with urban farmers struggling to grow in former industrial lots. In Boston I worked with public schools to develop an early iteration of SproutsIO that encouraged students to grow and enjoy fresh produce. We emphasize public service at SproutsIO, donating time and produce to the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge and a local women’s shelter.

I love to bring people together around food and enjoy cooking for friends and family.

Education

2013 M.S. Media Arts and Sciences | MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA

2006 M.S. Advanced Architectural Design | Columbia University, New York, NY 

2005 Cum Laude Professional B.Arch | University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL

SproutsIO Awards

2018 IDSA IDEA (Finalist) - SproutsIO

2018 A’ Design Award (Silver) - SproutsIO

2016 Good Design Award - SproutsIO

2016 International Design Award (Bronze) - SproutsIO

2015 Cartier Women’s Initiative Finalist - SproutsIO

2014 Glamour Women in Tech Hero - SproutsIO

2014 Wired Innovation Fellow - SproutsIO

2014 MassChallenge Finalist - SproutsIO

2013 Founder.org 100K Winner - SproutsIO

2013 MIT 100K Finalist - SproutsIO

Gardening is important because it represents the ability to thoughtfully nurture the world around you. We strive to enable more people to experience the rewards of gardening through participatory technology.

The SproutsIO team is defined by collaboration. Together we are creating an experience that is new and unique. Each challenge we face requires a multi-disciplinary solution developed across the domains of technology, biology, and design.

In addition to a wide range of professional expertise, our team has myriad superpowers to contribute as well. We are more than engineers, scientists, and designers – we are triathletes, artists, travelers, and makers. Our strength is in the diversity of our backgrounds, skills, and passions as well as our willingness to share with each other.

It has been my privilege to assemble and lead this extraordinary team, synchronizing all efforts around our business objectives and overarching mission.

As a female founder and CEO with an early stage business focused on hardware, software and biology - I encounter roadblocks daily. The very fact that SproutsIO is a thriving business developed from my early research at MIT seven years after our founding is a testament to my ability to steadily continue growing a responsible and sustainable business with a world changing mission and diverse, inclusive team.

Creating SproutsIO requires a vision that accepts that current practices and methods are not available to realize it. I lead a diverse multidisciplinary team of internal and external members across disciplines to develop the technology and realize it on a mass scale. Never restricted by domains, I effectively, efficiently, and decisively, analyze and implement best practices, using only what is required to further the technology development. Moreover, my passion and commitment motivate team members from students to industry experts, to expand their thinking and ability towards advancing the technology. 

The initial prototypes for SproutsIO were manufactured in automotive facilities in the Detroit area that specialized in headlamps. I identified these groups for their expertise in both material and integration of electronics. Engaging such groups as an early stage company to realize a proof of concept, especially when they work with major organizations was an achievement. Moreover, as a woman working with the group presented unique challenges that needed to be overcome. But the success of the project, and was not only that the prototypes were realized, but that the factory workers who were engaged to do so wanted to be using the technology. They transformed from skeptics to future gardeners. 

SproutsIO sets the bar with a high performance, space efficient and holistic system for growing Personal Produce™ at a great value.

Typical Indoor Growing components in the industry are not optimized for efficiency, ease of use or reliability. 

Growing Technologies available on the market are comprised of components for growing rather than a system approach. Frequently this technology is reserved for greenhouse or industrial applications and is costly.

SproutsIO Proprietary Technology has category defining performance (described in detail in core technology below).

Indoor Growing Systems have been low performance, lacking sensors and software/networked integration. Recently, a few groups have entered the space on a basic level such as Aero Garden and Click & Grow but have provided a sub-optimal experience for their customers.

Core technology, seamless service, and reliability across the SproutsIO system provides category defining quality necessary for Personal Produce™.

A change is necessary to address the strain the global food supply is under. Our theory of change is based on the premise that small, incremental changes can have broad, systemic impact when networked. This theory drove the development of the SproutsIO solution, from form to user experience: each device provides an incremental change to that family’s food consumption, and the devices together provide a systemic change to global food consumption. 

Activities: By participating in the production of the food consumed, we become more thoughtful about food in general. In a survey of 800 consumers in 2014, 77% of responders indicated they prefer a mix of automated and manual growing.

Outputs: Each SproutsIO user becomes an agent of change, simply by participating in growing produce. The obvious consumption of the produce grown reduces the reliance on industrial agriculture. The secondary output is that food becomes more meaningful to the SproutsIO user, changing consumption behavior beyond what he/she is growing at the moment. In 2015 SproutsIO conducted rigorous Beta Testing of the Complete Functional Prototype (CFP) in three different formats under the banner “IO Sessions”.  SproutsIO interacted directly with our customers to test design and interaction features associated with the user experience. A key takeaway was that consumers identified the impact to food waste, that users wanted to participate in the process, that this would reduce trips to the grocery store, and one participant noted that SproutsIO would “become an extension of [his] personality.”

Short-term Outcome: The SproutsIO collective, the network of all SproutsIOs in use, begin to reduce demand in each locale - both through the produce grown in SproutsIOs and in the new perspective on food consumption. Retailers adjust orders with industrial agriculture suppliers, in line with the reduced demand by the consumer. 

Long-term Outcome: The SproutsIO collective continues to grow, and the impact on demand grows along with it. Industrial agriculture suppliers reduce production to align with reduced orders from retailers. Less waste of spoiled produce (in transit and in retail) and less fossil fuels spent from creating and delivering the supply begin improving the overall global health.

We currently have shipped 294 SproutsIO systems to customers in the US. An additional 510 units are currently in production domestically to meet demand this quarter. In one year we anticipate 1000 memberships in the US and Canada. In three years we anticipate 45000 memberships in the US, Canada, LATAM and EU.

Expanding our user base is paramount to scaling the SproutsIO technology and enabling more people to participate in their food. In the next year we will focus on the US and Canada, and over the next five years we plan to have a larger global footprint. In order to facilitate this, we will need to market to different countries and populations, as well as developing variations of the product offering.

The average US household does not grow their own produce. Trends toward growing your own are on the rise, however, and consumers will be choosing which solution works best for them and their lifestyles over the coming years. SproutsIO, along with every solution in the category, faces a challenge to educate the consumer on why our solution can work for that household. Finding the correct marketing channels and media to communicate that succinctly and effectively is a barrier to success. Growing the user base will then fuel the AI engine to create a product that exceeds the competition in performance, both in user experience and consistent yield and performance. Funding those marketing efforts are paramount to accomplishing our goals in the next years.

SproutsIO is actively pursuing funding to support marketing efforts to grow the user base, which will in turn provide data to improve functionality. We are developing a robust digital marketing plan, to be executed in stages to match our resources. Proceeds from current sales will be cycled back into the marketing team and efforts, so as to drive the user base and gain share in the growing category.

The business model is comprised of the device purchase (or finance option) and monthly membership service, which incorporates unlimited sIO seed refills and SproutsIOGrow software services.

Sales of systems to current and potential customers, both B2C and also partnerships with educational institutions, corporate workplace and restaurants and hospitality. The recurring revenue from the membership on the devices is a key component of our long term success. We will continue to raise investment funds, bring in funding from grants and sell our product and services.

SproutsIO has received funds in the form of grants, debt and equity. The business has been generating revenue since Q4 2019. Further information can be provided privately upon request.

SproutsIO seeks to raise funds toward manufacturing and expanding our sales and marketing teams. Further information can be provided privately upon request.

Information can be provided privately upon request.

Fill In

We are launching SproutsIO to the US consumer market now which is a big step towards our mission of getting SproutsIO technology into the hands of as many people as possible. In order to do this, we are ramping up sales and manufacturing, this requires upfront investment in the production of systems, as well as hiring a strong marketing and sales team to expose the general public to the technology.

We are working on a plan that would involve NSF and potentially NASA. With NSF we are looking at a specific project that would advance the machine learning capabilities of the system. With NASA we are looking at an already established program where SproutsIO systems could be utilized for baseline testing of plant growth on the ISS.