My dad grew up on a farm. The food put on his kitchen table each night came from his family’s own garden. I grew up in the suburbs and now live in the city, and my food has almost exclusively come from a grocery store or a restaurant. My (future) children’s food will likely come from the Internet and be bottled like Soylent.
Edn, a stealthy startup out of Denver, is looking to change that trajectory.
Edn is a wall-hanging appliance that automatically grows a number of different vegetables automatically, paired with an iPhone app and a little tender love and care.
With 21 slots for different vegetables and herbs, Edn can grow “a meaningful amount” of different plants at the same time. The user is simply responsible for plugging Edn in, planting the chosen seed pods, refilling the water tank, and less frequently replacing the nutrients.
“I’ve found that a lot of tech automates and forgets about educating,” said founder Ryan Woltz. “With Edn, the software will tell you what to look for as plants germinate and are ready to be harvested, so you can learn about growing various herbs and vegetables as it’s happening before your eyes.”
Because the Edn hangs on the wall, it doesn’t take up counter or table space and lets anyone (even someone like me, who lives in a cramped New York apartment) grow their own food.
Edn is still in production, but I saw a prototype (which Woltz is currently using to grow thyme, cilantro, bell peppers, arugula, rosemary, and a pumpkin) and the device essentially looks like three back-lit shelves on one top of the other.
Once a user specifies which herbs or vegetables are in the 21 different slots, the Edn takes care of everything else. Woltz expects the product to ship in the next nine months at a retail price of $399. In the future, Woltz would also like to see Edn start selling seed pods for an extra stream of revenue.
Edn took second place in the Denver TC Meetup + Pitch-off in early October. To learn more about the company, check out the website.
