 Problem Description: (150 Words)

Though conventional organic farming is advantageous with little or no use of synthetic pesticides,
fertilizers and use of hormones & genetically modified organisms, some disadvantages resulting in
expensive final prices for the customers are
1. The low yield compared to conventional farming
2. The organic produce generally spoils faster than the commodity farming where pesticides and
waxing is used for long shelf life. Hence it has to be delivered to the end customer and consumed
faster.
3. The organic production is generally laborious and the crop growth at every juncture should be
monitored. The farmer should be knowledgeable to identify the issue relating to soil, weeds, pests,
nutrients, ecological system, weather conditions etc. and take actions, which in case otherwise may
result in loss of yield or total loss causing financial distress.

 Key Sector:

o Precision Farming
o Agricultural Supply Chain
o Post-Harvest & Food Technology
o Food Processing
o IoT, ICT and AI in Agriculture
o Natural Resource Management
o Waste to Wealth, Secondary Agriculture
o Agri Clinics & Farm Health services
o Organic Farming
o Agriculture Engineering
o Animal Husbandry, Dairying
o Agri-Input tools and technologies
o Farm Mechanization
o Agriculture Biotechnology
o Agri Ext Education

 Describe your solution (About your product/service/innovation)? (150 Words)

Our solution is to design and develop affordable control system gadget and hydroponic deployment
system that is 100% automated in its operations and can also be remotely controlled using a mobile
app, making it human intervention free to a large extent.

In order to circumvent the above issues and ensure to availability of organic fruits and vegetables to
the end customer at economical price, we feel hydroponics cultivation method is the solution that
uses 90% less water than conventional method, many manifold increase of yield and faster growth

Since the hydroponic cultivation is closer to the customer (on the rooftop or indoor), the time
between harvest and consumption is substantially reduced resulting in zero transportation cost and
availability of highly nutritional end product. Since the cultivation is climate controlled, the
 dependency on soil condition and external weather is nullified. Also weed and pest control using
chemicals is eliminated.

 Profile of target customer and customer acquisition strategy: (150 Words)

Technically anyone who owns a rooftop, or a spare indoor space is our prospective customer. Also,
hotels, local supermarkets, chain stores, apartment complexes with large roof tops & open spaces,
schools, govt campuses can also be targeted. The target is to acquire critical number of 1500
customers in a span of 12 months.

In the first stage, we will also advertise on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram by allocating small
budget in a single metro city in India. We will target acquiring 10-20 paid customers in 100 days,
deploy the system on trial basis and stabilize the process. Once the learnings are incorporated and
the system is stabilized, we will work on horizontal and vertical expansion (Vertical – introducing
multiple variants of automation system for various modes and size of space, horizontally in different
cities) to acquire customers.

 Who are your competitors? (50 Words)

Future farms, Urban Kisaan, Hydroblooms, Ponic Greens, Hydrilla, BRIO Hydroponics, Ginwala
advanced farms, Greenilai, Sneha hydro, Vendag Agro, Waghulade farms and many more
established hydroponic technology suppliers are in the market.

Our big differentiator is the user friendly intuitive mobile app and automation gadget with small
footprint, robust and scalable architecture that offers more value for money and the business
model.

 What is the Revenue Model of your startup (sources of income)? (50 Words)

Our sources of revenue comprises of one time system set up fee, annual maintenance contract,
workshop and training fees. Cobranding and promotion fees are also being considered.

 What potential industry partners and/or customers have you met with to validate your idea? (100
words)

We have had initial discussions with the subject matter experts in hydroponics farming, professors
from Horticulture college, Mudigere and embedded system design experts to architect the solution.
We have undergone training on setting up indoor vertical gardens and to grow Fruits and Vegetables
using hydroponic methods. A complete system and functional study is completed. We have visited
owners who have indoor gardens and have conducted sample survey regarding the use of nutrients,
water availability, issues with power fluctuation, yield varieties, other challenges, satisfaction levels,
aspirations about the product and feedback on improvement areas etc.

 Describe business goals for the next one year? (100 words)

1. Our key objective is to stabilize the working system architecture through field deployment and trails
2. Our target is to acquire 1000+ customers in 12 months. Hence we will embark on branding &
Marketing exercise through organizing online virtual workshops and show the demo of hydroponics
farming and how the process automation enables hazzle free farming with rich and fresh yield for
even the newbies from nonfarming background and community.
3. We will develop targeted ads on social media channels and also plan to use print media for
publishing periodical advertisements
4. We plan to offer this product in different models at tiered pricing to garner large market share

 Describe expected take-aways (non-financial) from the incubation program? (100 Words)

Our key impediment is creation the field force for installation and maintenance. We need support in
creating training modules and DIY instruction guides for field professionals and end users. If
possible, we need access to subject matter experts from Israel, to help ratify our technology solution
architecture. Any information on access to government aid and support in this domain and sector to
scale up is welcome. We will also need support in accessing few paid market research reports. We
will need support for curate our marketing and branding strategy.

 Is your business model/idea/startup eligible for acquiring Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)?

There is high potential opportunity to create or acquire IPR as the algorithm and technology is
unique. We are also focusing on business process and pricing innovation to scale up this business
globally.

 How it will benefit to farming Community (Social Impact)? (100 Words)

The foremost benefit is the restoration of ecological balance by growing rare species of fruits,
vegetables, flowers etc. It helps in improving the air quality by removing pollutants and allergens. It
will help in noise reduction to great extent. It has several psychological benefits to improve the
health of people involved in farming. The instant availability of fruits and vegetables with rich
nutrients will also add to the health benefits. It will potentially increase food production and
enhance economic activities. It will increase the aesthetic value of the space. Reduction in
transportation leads to lesser fossil fuel consumption and reduced air pollution. It also helps in job
creation to an extent.