“We see a significant increase in the ‘Standard’ edition, specifically in educational settings. Given our educational customer base and connections with universities and schools, the Standard edition is our most promising product. We’re also confident that North American families will embrace it,” says Baoshi Sun, Founder of VegeSense and a student at the University of Waterloo in Canada. A sub-brand of DataTellIt Inc, VegeSense is a Canadian AIoT startup founded by University of Waterloo alumni and faculty.
VegeSense currently offers three types of ‘mini-farms’: Lite, Standard, and Max, each catering to different user groups. The Lite version is dedicated for personal and small family use, while the Standard edition is aimed at schools and larger families. Then, the Max version is designed for business corporates, making farming accessible to all.
The ‘Standard Smart Farm’
Deployed for education
Recently, VegeSense launched its smart mini-farm in a school setting, and the product has already proven to be a useful tool for introducing children to indoor farming. “We provide a one-stop labor and STEM solution to schools. To completely serve the market, we offer a complete curriculum system, including planting and cooking classes, as well as courses on IoT, sensors, and AI.”
Students can participate in a variety of activities such as growing lettuce and mini tomatoes, cooking vegetable salads, and using an app to monitor environmental data and adjust conditions. “They can even use AI tools to generate posters and reports for their projects,” Baoshi adds.
Mushroom at the top, microgreens at the bottom
As a sub-brand of DataTellIt, a prominent player in the IoT and sensor industry, VegeSense is set to change the industry footprint as the corporate has software and hardware for years, but not in agriculture. “For the DataTellIt team leveraging their technological expertise, we can focus on the agricultural side while benefiting from their IoT capabilities, building a strong product together.”
VegeSense’s Smart Farms seen in-store
All smart farms are equipped with new technology, utilizing a variety of sensors to monitor elements such as temperature, humidity, CO2, light, pH, and water levels. And the great thing is, according to Baoshi, that you need zero farming knowledge to use the system. The process is pretty straightforward: users insert plant pods into the machine, add a VegeSense Nutrient cup to the water tank, and select a planting program via the app. “Once the program is activated, users can sit back and wait for their harvest,” he adds.
Given the system supports over 70 species, including herbs, flowers, leafy greens, micro-fruits, and mushrooms. Leafy greens and mushrooms are particularly easy to grow and perfect for beginners,” he says.
Future of FaaS and distributed farming
“We believe Farming-as-a-Service (FaaS) is the future. We’re planning on expanding our product offering through a subscription model. Our goal is to create one of the largest distributed planting networks in North America, with smart mini-farms in homes, schools, and small businesses.” While the product is currently focused on education and small-scale farming, Baoshi sees plenty of potential areas for expansion.
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