Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
For more than a year, the three entrepreneurs behind Hummingbird Technologies have been working to perfect a device to take the guesswork out of growing plants.
The result of that effort is Nectar, a system that its creators say provides the ideal environment for gardening, albeit on a small scale.
Nectar is 4 feet tall, 18 inches wide and 20 inches long, and can easily fit in a kitchen. It does not require soil or water, but uses a nutrient solution that can be purchased online or in gardening shops. The enclosure is controlled by a smartphone application that allows users to adjust humidity, pH levels, temperature and lighting based on the type of plant being grown.
As they developed the first prototype, the three men behind Hummingbird - Tejash Patel, 27, Marin Assaliyski, 28, and Danny Varghese, 28 - saw a broad potential market for the device. Nectar could appeal to a loft dweller looking to grow Japanese strawberries or arugula; a master gardener or farmer might want the device to experiment with different types of seeds.
The concept was so intriguing, Hummingbird Technologies last year received a $50,000 grant from Arch Grants, the nonprofit that's helping build the St. Louis startup scene. But as the three entrepreneurs scrambled to refine their product, they zeroed in on a potential market that could prove lucrative as it evolves.
Varghese said other companies offering "smart" home-gardening systems were looking specifically at marijuana - in states where cultivation and consumption had been legalized. A study by the Marijuana Policy Group for the Colorado Department of Revenue that he had read showed that, in 2014, about 485,000 adults consumed marijuana regularly, while the demand among adult residents reached 121.4 metric tons.
"By converting the raw numbers in the study to dollars, I found out that there is a large subset of marijuana users in Colorado who spend around $5,000 per person per year on marijuana," Varghese said. "These people are really in pain right now. They are spending big money on marijuana."
The Nectar system, which the company prices at up to $1,200, could provide those people with a reliable, year-round way of ensuring a steady supply of marijuana. For now, though, Hummingbird is aiming its sales pitch at medical dispensaries and licensed marijuana vendors in Colorado.
Ever-changing market
Although some states have softened their stance on marijuana, it remains a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act, alongside heroin, LSD and other drugs deemed dangerous by the Drug Enforcement Administration because of a high potential for abuse and dependency.
Nonetheless, a number of states have adopted laws to allow consumption, distribution and cultivation of marijuana, primarily for medical purposes. Because some of those state laws are confusing and appear to conflict with federal law, new entrants in the marijuana business face risks, say industry experts.
"The market is fragmented," said Robert Hunt, a partner in Tuatara Capital, an investment management firm focusing on the cannabis industry. "Every state that has its market is completely independent to the other state. Everyone operates in a vacuum, and there is no continuity."
In a handful of states, individuals can grow marijuana under certain circumstances. But across most of the country, cultivation, possession and distribution can still mean stiff fines and even prison time.
Missouri, despite some halting moves to open the door to medical marijuana, is among the states that bar cultivation for personal use. But two nonprofits - BeLeaf Company, in Earth City, and Noah's Arc Foundation, in Chesterfield - have licenses to grow marijuana for the purposes of extracting cannabis oil used to treat the symptoms of epilepsy.
Illinois also bars individuals from cultivating marijuana, but the state licenses cultivation centers that produce plants and other cannabis-based infused products.
If restrictive and conflicting laws aren't daunting enough, Hummingbird may face an even bigger challenge. In terms of the potential of indoor gardening systems for the marijuana market, there might be, currently, little room for growth.
"The market is so saturated, unbelievably saturated," Hunt said. "If they have a better mousetrap, there's always an opportunity to improve what's there. If it's not an exceptional product, they are going to have a tough go. There are fully automated gardening systems that control everything from your iPhone."
Yet, home consumption of marijuana is something to keep an eye on in the next few years, if more states decide to legalize it.
"In a recreational cannabis environment, this can be easily equated to folks having the right to brew beer at home in limited quantities," said Kayvan S.T. Khalatbari, founding partner of Denver Relief Consulting, a consulting firm in the industry. "As cannabis is far safer than alcohol, both to an individual person and to society, that right should be provided to cannabis cultivators as well. The key will be whether the lobbying powers of the cannabis industry, who want to control as much of the market as possible, will do all they can to suppress this right or allow it in states moving forward."
Adapt to survive
Nectar was born in late 2014, two years after Patel, Assaliyski and Varghese, all colleagues at the Illinois Institute of Technology, started thinking about becoming entrepreneurs.
While researching multiple business ideas, they noticed that there were no integrated gardening solutions in stores, but a vast array of options sold separately, such as tents or LED lights. They were all expensive and required gardening knowledge to make them work together.
Patel, Assaliyski and Varghese believed they could combine these elements and build a simple and easy-to-use gardening system.
Patel began working on the hardware structure of the prototype. Assaliyski, who studied aerospace and mechanical engineering at IIT, started working on the software development side and the smartphone application. Varghese, whose background is in business and finance, built the business plan as part of one of his classes in his MBA program.
Varghese said he was excited by the possibilities.
"After talking to many people, we realized that most of them had experimented with gardening but stopped as their plants had died on them, but they had no idea why it had happened," Varghese says. "Fortunately, Nectar takes the guesswork out of gardening and applies science to ensure that the plant's needs are identified and met. We seized the opportunity and came up with the idea for the Nectar, a simple yet sophisticated system that can grow plants all year-round."
After spending less than $2,000 on the first prototype, they competed for and won an Arch Grant.
Although the company has changed its focus after receiving the grant that's funded by the Missouri Technology Corporation and private donors, that's not unusual, said Ben Burke, director of entrepreneurship for Arch Grants.
Burke said Arch Grants supports entrepreneurs in several business stages, even when it comes to modifying their goals, as some of the businesses will indeed "need to adapt in order to survive."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: St. Louis Startup Targets Growing Market - Including Legal Marijuana
Author: Sintia Radu
Contact: 314-340-8888
Photo Credit: Roberto Rodriguez
Website: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The result of that effort is Nectar, a system that its creators say provides the ideal environment for gardening, albeit on a small scale.
Nectar is 4 feet tall, 18 inches wide and 20 inches long, and can easily fit in a kitchen. It does not require soil or water, but uses a nutrient solution that can be purchased online or in gardening shops. The enclosure is controlled by a smartphone application that allows users to adjust humidity, pH levels, temperature and lighting based on the type of plant being grown.
As they developed the first prototype, the three men behind Hummingbird - Tejash Patel, 27, Marin Assaliyski, 28, and Danny Varghese, 28 - saw a broad potential market for the device. Nectar could appeal to a loft dweller looking to grow Japanese strawberries or arugula; a master gardener or farmer might want the device to experiment with different types of seeds.
The concept was so intriguing, Hummingbird Technologies last year received a $50,000 grant from Arch Grants, the nonprofit that's helping build the St. Louis startup scene. But as the three entrepreneurs scrambled to refine their product, they zeroed in on a potential market that could prove lucrative as it evolves.
Varghese said other companies offering "smart" home-gardening systems were looking specifically at marijuana - in states where cultivation and consumption had been legalized. A study by the Marijuana Policy Group for the Colorado Department of Revenue that he had read showed that, in 2014, about 485,000 adults consumed marijuana regularly, while the demand among adult residents reached 121.4 metric tons.
"By converting the raw numbers in the study to dollars, I found out that there is a large subset of marijuana users in Colorado who spend around $5,000 per person per year on marijuana," Varghese said. "These people are really in pain right now. They are spending big money on marijuana."
The Nectar system, which the company prices at up to $1,200, could provide those people with a reliable, year-round way of ensuring a steady supply of marijuana. For now, though, Hummingbird is aiming its sales pitch at medical dispensaries and licensed marijuana vendors in Colorado.
Ever-changing market
Although some states have softened their stance on marijuana, it remains a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act, alongside heroin, LSD and other drugs deemed dangerous by the Drug Enforcement Administration because of a high potential for abuse and dependency.
Nonetheless, a number of states have adopted laws to allow consumption, distribution and cultivation of marijuana, primarily for medical purposes. Because some of those state laws are confusing and appear to conflict with federal law, new entrants in the marijuana business face risks, say industry experts.
"The market is fragmented," said Robert Hunt, a partner in Tuatara Capital, an investment management firm focusing on the cannabis industry. "Every state that has its market is completely independent to the other state. Everyone operates in a vacuum, and there is no continuity."
In a handful of states, individuals can grow marijuana under certain circumstances. But across most of the country, cultivation, possession and distribution can still mean stiff fines and even prison time.
Missouri, despite some halting moves to open the door to medical marijuana, is among the states that bar cultivation for personal use. But two nonprofits - BeLeaf Company, in Earth City, and Noah's Arc Foundation, in Chesterfield - have licenses to grow marijuana for the purposes of extracting cannabis oil used to treat the symptoms of epilepsy.
Illinois also bars individuals from cultivating marijuana, but the state licenses cultivation centers that produce plants and other cannabis-based infused products.
If restrictive and conflicting laws aren't daunting enough, Hummingbird may face an even bigger challenge. In terms of the potential of indoor gardening systems for the marijuana market, there might be, currently, little room for growth.
"The market is so saturated, unbelievably saturated," Hunt said. "If they have a better mousetrap, there's always an opportunity to improve what's there. If it's not an exceptional product, they are going to have a tough go. There are fully automated gardening systems that control everything from your iPhone."
Yet, home consumption of marijuana is something to keep an eye on in the next few years, if more states decide to legalize it.
"In a recreational cannabis environment, this can be easily equated to folks having the right to brew beer at home in limited quantities," said Kayvan S.T. Khalatbari, founding partner of Denver Relief Consulting, a consulting firm in the industry. "As cannabis is far safer than alcohol, both to an individual person and to society, that right should be provided to cannabis cultivators as well. The key will be whether the lobbying powers of the cannabis industry, who want to control as much of the market as possible, will do all they can to suppress this right or allow it in states moving forward."
Adapt to survive
Nectar was born in late 2014, two years after Patel, Assaliyski and Varghese, all colleagues at the Illinois Institute of Technology, started thinking about becoming entrepreneurs.
While researching multiple business ideas, they noticed that there were no integrated gardening solutions in stores, but a vast array of options sold separately, such as tents or LED lights. They were all expensive and required gardening knowledge to make them work together.
Patel, Assaliyski and Varghese believed they could combine these elements and build a simple and easy-to-use gardening system.
Patel began working on the hardware structure of the prototype. Assaliyski, who studied aerospace and mechanical engineering at IIT, started working on the software development side and the smartphone application. Varghese, whose background is in business and finance, built the business plan as part of one of his classes in his MBA program.
Varghese said he was excited by the possibilities.
"After talking to many people, we realized that most of them had experimented with gardening but stopped as their plants had died on them, but they had no idea why it had happened," Varghese says. "Fortunately, Nectar takes the guesswork out of gardening and applies science to ensure that the plant's needs are identified and met. We seized the opportunity and came up with the idea for the Nectar, a simple yet sophisticated system that can grow plants all year-round."
After spending less than $2,000 on the first prototype, they competed for and won an Arch Grant.
Although the company has changed its focus after receiving the grant that's funded by the Missouri Technology Corporation and private donors, that's not unusual, said Ben Burke, director of entrepreneurship for Arch Grants.
Burke said Arch Grants supports entrepreneurs in several business stages, even when it comes to modifying their goals, as some of the businesses will indeed "need to adapt in order to survive."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: St. Louis Startup Targets Growing Market - Including Legal Marijuana
Author: Sintia Radu
Contact: 314-340-8888
Photo Credit: Roberto Rodriguez
Website: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
