Technology and Farming are making a statement…

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Today we take a deep dive into GroGuru, an exciting company whose innovative platform brings the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to farming.  Specifically, we are focusing on the TOP FIVE reasons (in no particular order) why we like this company:

• GroGuru is addressing SERIOUS problems facing the world today.
• The company’s current customer base & demonstrated results.
• The payback period for customers who adopt GroGuru technology.
• GroGuru’s world-class team.
• The SIZE of the global agriculture industry.

So let’s dive in…

Reason #1: Solving REAL problems (vs. invented ones)!

Recently in the Boardroom we’ve been talking about companies that have been successful by identifying problems and solving them.  

Many companies have become experts in inventing problems that no one even knew they had… Infomercials are great at this–like who knew they needed a special blanket with sleeves to hold a baby?  Or a special brownie pan to cut the perfect brownies?  Or a vacuum to cut hair?  

This is NOT what we’re talking about today…

Today we are talking about a company whose mission is to make the “world a better place by allowing farmers to save water, grow more crops in a cost-effective way, and sequester more carbon in the soil.”

In other words, GroGuru is tackling REAL PROBLEMS facing the world today– including water shortages and food insecurity!  

To accomplish this noble mission, GroGuru has developed technology that enables farmers to significantly save on water usage while also increasing crop yields. 

And adoption and implementation of this technology does not take a rocket scientist!  As stated on the company’s homepage, two MAJOR  benefits of this technology include 1) ease of installation (less than 20 minutes and can be done during the farm’s dormant season) and 2) ease of use.  

To go into a little more detail, GroGuru’s technology comes in the form of sensors in the earth to measure soil moisture, temperature and salinity.  The data is transmitted to the Cloud so that, when combined with additional information, GroGuru is able to make farm-specific recommendations to farmers about when and how much more (or less) to water their crops. 

In short, Groguru’s mission-fulfilling formula is as follows:  

Saving Water + Increasing Food Supply = Making the Earth a Better Place

The company is not only passionate about preserving the world’s most precious resources, but it is doing something about it!  And it is enabling farmers to become more profitable at the same time!

To consider investing in a company solving REAL problems, click here.

Reason #2: Current Customer Base & Proven Results

We are not talking about a company with a prototype or that is speculative if the product will even work at all.  We are talking about a company that already has a substantial customer base and proven results.  

According to the company, its customer base comprises approximately 1500 SaaS subscribers – representing 6000 sensors – with around 150,000 acres under management.    These customers represent approximately 1 million deployable acres and a dealer footprint of over 10 million acres. The company currently has over 200 end customers.   

Please see the map below to see where GroGuru’s solutions have been implemented. 

One of GroGuru’s clients is almond farmer, Mr. Mike Nielsen.  Mr. Nielsen was an early adopter of GroGuru’s first generation soil data monitoring system for his almond farm.  After a year of anxiously awaiting the results, the GroGuru team was able to interview Mr. Nielsen about his results.  

Here are some excerpts from his interview

GroGuru:  You improved yield from 1700 lbs/acre last year to 2100 lbs/year in 2018?… 

Mr. Nielsen:  “My 2018 almond production was the best ever on the Caboose ranch.   We harvested 2059 lbs/ac.   Our almond production has fluctuated greatly over the last few years it ranged from 1090 lbs/ac in 2015 to 1926 lbs/ac in 2012.   In 2016 we produced 1230 lbs/ac.  and in 2017 we produced 1650 lbs/ac.   I attribute most of the success this last year to better water management many thanks to Groguru.”

GroGuru:  How was the QUALITY of the Almonds in 2018 vs 2017?

Mr. Nielsen: “The trees definitely responded and grew very well this last year. In fact one day I was spraying on the ranch and a farmer who said he lived in the area actually stopped and asked what I was doing differently to the orchard?    It was nice to see that others were noticing the differences besides me.    The nut quality was excellent as usual but the increased growth is what was noticed.”

GroGuru:  The yield increase should have translated to more than $1200/acre this year and if yes, you’re a happy camper. What was your power usage 2018 vs 2017 and previous years?

Mr. Nielsen:  “I originally added Groguru to the field to “save” water but what I noticed was I was actually UNDER-IRRIGATING the field. Even though I did use more water over the growing season I would imagine with the management help of Groguru my overall PG&E cost did not reflect the increase. With proper irrigation management it was much easier to irrigate only on off peak hours rather than throughout the day when the costs are higher.”

“Overall I am very happy with the addition of Groguru to my fields.  I love the ability I now have to check all my field’s soil moisture right from my phone.  The installation staff is incredible and have been very helpful and easy to work with too.   It has also been so nice to have a Plant Scientist on staff to answer any questions just a phone call away.  Many thanks to Farooq and the whole Groguru team.”

Mr. Nielsen is just one great example of how GroGuru’s innovative technology is helping not only increase crop yield but improve quality of his output.  Further, what is really neat about this interview is that he realized he needed to use more water at different times in his crops–something he would not have known without the help of GroGuru’s solutions.  

For investing information in GroGuru, please click here.

Reason #3: The Payback Period for Customers

Let’s talk numbers!  It’s always essential to understand the numbers and if such an investment for customers makes sense.

According to the company, its Artificial Intelligence & Software as a Service (SAAS) platform – GroGuru ® InSites – has a payback period of LESS THAN ONE GROWING SEASON.  

Payback period < ONE GROWING SEASON

Yes–that was worth repeating!

So how does this work and what does this SAAS platform offer?  Here are some highlights of the process according to the company:

• GroGuru collects data from the root zone of the crop, adds other critical data and applies machine learning and AI to determine things like root growth, root depth and available moisture in the soil.
• The company provides guidance on how to apply exactly the right amount of water at exactly the right time.
• GroGuru ® InSites presents this information in a simple, intuitive, farmer-friendly user interface that users can access on their mobile phone, tablet or computer.
• GroGuru ® InSites works with GroGuru’s own sensors and telemetry, and also works with third-party sensors, including AquaCheck and Sentek.
• GroGuru uses DTN weather forecasts and crop models for 10-day look-ahead forecasts of crop water use.
• GroGuru ® InSites crop-specific irrigation templates guide users both before and during the growing season to manage soil moisture conditions in the field.

Soil sensors – customized by crop

In terms of soil sensors available to customers, GroGuru offers the WUGS system (Wireless Underground System for Permanent Installation of Soil Sensors in Annual Field Crops and Alfalfa) works well for  broad-acre row crops like corn, cotton and soybeans.

Alternatively, with some crop types, the permanent installation enabled by WUGS is not ideal. This is where GroGuru FoxLite finds a niche.  It is a product that requires annual installation and removal.  FoxLite would best be used for root vegetables crops like potatoes, sugar beets, peanuts and carrots, where the root zone is dug up during harvest. This unit is directly wired with either Sentek Drill-and-Drop or AquaCheck probe-style sensors

GroGuru also has wired or wireless solutions for farmers of permanent or perennial crops, such as for tree and vine crops (including  nut trees, citrus and grapes).

Regardless of the soil sensor chosen, farmers get access to the GroGuru ® InSites SaaS platform and get the most complete set of data and insights for their irrigation management needs.

For more detail about its different product offerings, see here.

To consider investing in GroGuru, click here.

Reason #4: The GroGuru Team 

GroGuru’s Team brings with it impressive technical and domain expertise in wireless, A.I.,  SaaS and crop science. We will highlight a few of its leaders, but for more information about GroGuru’s complete leadership team, please click here.  

In #4, there is a change in the management team: Farooq Anjum, PhD is now ‘Advisor and Co-Founder’ and Jeff Cambell, PhD is now ‘Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder’

Founders:  Groguru is led by co-founders, Farooq Anjum, PhD (Advisor and Co-Founder), and Jeff Campbell, PhD (Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder), with expertise in technology and soil monitoring, respectively. 

If you can spare a few minutes to watch some of the interviews between Mr. Henry and Dr. Sloane, the expertise of Dr. Sloane quickly becomes apparent.  This is the type of expertise farmers will have access to as customers of GroGuru.  

As an example, here is a short excerpt (emphases added) between the two parties from one of their interviews:

Mr. Henry:  Talk about evapotranspiration, or ET, and how it relates to weather. Explain that in layman’s terms and what that means for someone who wants to optimally irrigate their crops.

Dr. Sloane:  A crop doesn’t use the same amount of water every day of its life cycle. Corn starts out as a seed. Then it’s three inches tall. Then it grows to 10 or 12 feet tall. Then it dies. Throughout that whole life cycle, it uses different amounts of water. It needs different amounts of water…Where this comes together with ET is that you need to know what the model looks like. What is the crop water use curve? What are the sensitive times in the crop growth cycle? When can you afford to push it a little bit and save some water, and potentially grow deeper roots, versus when do you have to look after it?

That’s where crop modeling comes in. It’s knowing the right times to put on the right amount of water. With sensing, it’s making sure that you do what you set out to do…

For more info about investing in GroGuru, click here.

Reason #5:  The SIZE of the global agriculture industry

The current size of the global agricultural industry is estimated at  $2.4 TRILLION annually– a staggering number though perhaps not too surprising!

However,  macroeconomic events such as the war in Ukraine are leading to increased anxieties related to food security.  Further, increased costs associated with farming inputs have led to increased expenses across the board.  For example, according to World Bank sources, fertilizer prices have risen nearly 30% since the start of 2022, following last year’s 80% surge! 

Although farmers have been traditionally resistant to changing time-honored farming practices, the combination of these factors may be what farmers need to become more open to adopting new technologies (AgTech), such as those offered by GroGuru. 

GroGuru’s technology will ideally enable farmers to not only conserve water but to increase crop yields.  These will ideally combine to counter the effects of higher prices related to fertilizer, transporting crops, and other inputs that have seen raised prices, while allowing farmers to become more profitable.  

As AgTech innovation becomes more and more critical to boosting crop yields, the time is right for GroGuru’s technology and its team to fulfill their mission of making the world a better place.  

To consider an opportunity to invest in GroGuru, please click here.

Investing in GroGuru

So what does all this mean for YOU?  GroGuru is currently conducting an equity crowdfunding campaign which can be found HERE.  Since we’re not financial advisors, or broker dealers, we don’t discuss the details of the offer. As educators, and investors ourselves, we only tell you what we do in order to do our due-diligence and encourage you to do the same. Investing in startups can be particularly risky, as most startups fail and there is no definitive timeline or path to exit.

To begin your due-diligence, head over to the offering site HERE.

Prospective investors should fully satisfy themselves as to the information they require to make any investment. Like any investment, you could lose your entire investment, not be able to exit or access  funds when you need to, and might see your own investment in any startup  diluted by any future rounds of investment the company may undertake.

Conclusion

In summary, we have only presented our top FIVE reasons why we like GroGuru in this report.  For a more comprehensive list of the company’s highlights, please click here. 

And we strongly encourage you to invest some time in the company’s website to watch interviews with the experts as well as read the company’s blogs to more fully understand how GroGuru is striving to solve REAL problems and indeed make the world a better place!

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