Rise Gardens, a Chicago startup making indoor hydroponic systems, just landed an investment from Amazon’s Alexa Fund as it continues to help people grow fruits and veggies inside their homes.
On Tuesday, Rise Gardens announced it secured an undisclosed amount of funding from the Amazon Alexa Fund, which launched in 2015 with $100 million. Amazon prohibits its portfolio companies to share the amount of capital they received from the tech giant, according to Rise Gardens, but the average investment size is reportedly $250,000 to $500,000.
Rise Gardens said the funding from Amazon is an extension of its $2.6 million seed round it raised earlier this year. The round was led by True Ventures, with participation from Michael Alter of the Alter Group and owner of the WNBA's Chicago Sky; Howard Tullman, the former CEO of 1871; and Jai Shekhawat, the founder of Fieldglass.
Rise Gardens was founded in 2019 by former Sportsvision CEO Hank Adams. The startup designs in-home and IoT-connected hydroponic systems, devices that grow plants in a reservoir of moving water and organic materials. Rise Gardens' modular system is made out of hardwood and heavy-gage, powder-coated steel. It has a built-in water pump, seed sockets and a programmed LED light system that automatically shifts on and off to give plants the perfect amount of light.
Once consumers purchase a hydroponic system, they are encouraged to subscribe to Rise Gardens’ subscription service, which sends them seed pods every month and gives them access to the company’s mobile app that reminds users when to add water or nutrients. The startup sells seeds for a range of vegetables and herbs, including kale, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, basil and rosemary.
Rise Gardens, which employs 12 people, says that receiving backing from Amazon provides a vote of confidence for the company amid a growing group of competitors in the indoor garden tech sector. Additionally, becoming part of the Amazon family allows Rise Gardens to streamline seed orders using Amazon’s Dash replenishment service.
Since mid-March, the onset of the pandemic in the U.S., Rise Gardens says it has seen a 750% increase in business. Customers have harvested about 15,000 plants since the beginning of the year, which equals about 4,000 pounds of produce.
Adams began making prototypes for Rise Gardens in 2017, working out of Chicago startup incubators 1871 and mHub, and began selling the final product last year. The system starts at $549 for one level and goes up to nearly $950 for three. Next month, Rise Gardens will reveal a countertop version of its hydroponic system, called The Personal Garden, which will retail for $279.
“I am thrilled to have Amazon invest in our company, which will help us accelerate our growth and reach more consumers,” Adams said in a statement. “Collaborating with the Alexa Fund will better enable us to integrate our smart, connected garden with Alexa, making indoor gardening even easier. We are also excited about the opportunity to work with Amazon to evolve and expand how we reach consumers with our device and consumables business concept.”
