Growsquares

GrowSquares is a consumer gardening technology company that combines microbiology, environmental sensing and data science to produce personalized home gardens. The product line pairs a physical gardening product with a mobile application that assesses a user's microclimate and growing conditions and recommends suitable herbs, fruits, vegetables and leafy greens, then guides the user from seed through harvest.

The concept originated from the founder's experience at a hedge fund, where remote sensing technologies were used to price derivative contracts on plant commodities; the company applies analogous environmental analysis at the scale of a balcony, yard or urban plot. Positioning emphasizes long-term guidance for novice gardeners rather than a standalone device.

The company is privately held and small, with reported headcount of seven to eight people. Public listings classify it under consumer goods / recreational products and AgTech, with United States geographic exposure.

Founding story

Founder Zachary Witman gardened from childhood in Providence, Rhode Island, but struggled to grow plants after moving to larger cities; the decisive moment came when the plants on his 10th-floor Brooklyn balcony were destroyed by insects. While working at a hedge fund whose strategies included using remote sensing technologies to price derivatives on plant commodities, he reasoned that similar environmental modeling could predict how crops would perform in an urban setting. He approached a professor friend at Columbia University who connected him with PhD students to build the measurement system, and then a professor at Parsons School of Design whose graduate students helped design the corresponding physical product; one Parsons student left academia on the condition that Witman work on the venture full time.

Business model

GrowSquares sells a physical gardening product paired with a companion mobile app, with revenue described as transactional and the customer base as consumers. The company reported an increasing focus on direct-to-consumer sales after the retail channel slowed in 2020.

Transactional consumer sales of gardening products with an accompanying app; one data provider estimates annual revenue in the $1M-$10M range.

Traction

Reported outcomes include development of a first physical product and additional pipeline products within about a year of formation, a grand prize win at USPAACC's 2019 pitch competition followed by an investment from an attendee, a surge in demand during COVID-19, and a national US launch in 2020. Headcount is reported at seven to eight employees in 2024.