* Custom laser engraved propagation stand and tubes, water bottle and thermos, UPG custom investor jacket.

** Plaque will feature your name, show our current share price, and will be signed by the founders.

For further detail please see section 3.3 of the Offer Document

Founders Peter and Dilhan launched Urban Plant Growers in 2018 to solve the problem of food miles, food waste and food security. Since then, the company has rapidly grown from their garages in Sydney, to a global company operating in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

In 2021, both founders left their engineering jobs at Microsoft and DeltaQ to focus full-time on their mission of creating a greener tomorrow. Since then the company has grown exponentially with $1.4m of revenue in FY22 and over 50,000 orders delivered to 30,000 customers. 

With innovation core to the fabric of the company, the product range has continued to grow. What started as a single “smart garden” offering, has now extended to a range of unique products - bringing the love of gardening indoors and helping customers to easily grow produce in a sustainable and affordable way.

Agriculture accounts for 70% of Australia’s water consumption, food transport contributes 6% of greenhouse gas emissions and over 30% of food is wasted before it even reaches our homes. This is exacerbated by the fact that the world needs to grow 60% more food by 2050 to match population growth, a reality that will prove increasingly difficult as climate change continues to wreak havoc on food systems, worsening our food security.

Urban density is also increasing rapidly, with ⅔ of the world’s population expected to live in urban areas by 2050. More than 1.3m  Australian’s now live in apartments with this figure growing each year. A large portion of these apartment dwellers want to take food security into their own hands and grow their own food at the point of consumption.

This has coincided with the acceleration in the demand for indoor gardening solutions following on from COVID. Today, 70% of Millennials are “plant parents”, while 67% of adults have expressed a desire to grow edible plants.

For further detail see Section 2.3.2 of the Offer Document.

The Urban Plant Growers solution is underpinned by the baseline technology of hydroponics. For plants to grow they need sunlight, nutrients (traditionally from soil or fertilisers), water, and a medium to grow in. Urban Plant Growers use hydroponic technology to mimic these conditions, and then bundle the products with smart features such as automatic timers, water level indicators and nutrient meters to make the products easy to use.

This baseline technology can be used to build products that grow any plant. So far Urban Plant Growers have targeted herbs, leafy greens, indoor plants, microgreens and sprouts. They plan to continue to use this technology to create a broader range of products that meet the needs of more people - allowing everyday people to grow fruit and vegetables such as tomatoes, chillies, capsicums, zucchinis and more. 

They envision a future where every home can conveniently grow their own food at the press of a button, and maintain their own indoor garden with stylish home-integrated products.

For further detail see Section 2.3.3 of the Offer Document.

Over the last four years, Urban Plant Growers has diversified its revenue channels. There are now three main revenue channels, which complement each other to enhance overall profit margins and growth. These are direct to consumer (D2C), wholesale B2B, and servicing.

Urban Plant Growers design and market a range of indoor gardening products through both wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels. Typically in a customer's first order, they will purchase one of the main products, and then return months later for high margin consumables such as seeds, nutrients or growth mediums. 35% of customers who have bought a product more than 12 months ago have returned to make another order - indicating the feasibility of this model.

As Urban Plant Growers develop larger products which can grow more food such as tomatoes, zucchinis, chillies and eggplant - the need for these consumables will grow, driving further repeat customer revenue.

For further detail please see Section 2.5 of the Offer Document

Australian Market Key Differentiators

In the Australian and New Zealand markets, Urban Plant Growers has a strong head start, as the established brand. With wholesale partnerships in Costco, Flower Power, David Jones, Harvey Norman, and Eden gardens - there is a lead in distribution that should help maintain Urban Plant Growers as the clear market leader by the time hydroponic technology goes mainstream. With over 50,000 products in people’s homes, 20,000 customers, and 20 key products, the company has a strong lead over local competition.

A unique barrier to entry in the AU/NZ markets are their strict biosecurity laws which prevent the import of seeds and nutrients. Most customers (including wholesale clients) want complete kits that are ready to go when the customers receive them, which means a competitor would need to set up a local warehouse to pack in seeds and nutrients to every grow kit before selling the products on. 

There is no significant Australian competition, Mr Fothergills are primarily a seed company and don’t have a background in product development, and Urbatonica was founded in 2014 in WA, and has one product and a small eCommerce presence.

International Market Key Differentiators

The main two competitors in the global market are ‘click and grow’ and ‘aerogarden’, which are both only targeting the hydroponic herb and leafy green market. None of these overseas competitors are focused on the market opportunity available in furniture integrated hydroponics, vegetable growers, or aquaponic kits.

The products sold by both of these competitors follow a nespresso model, whereby customers buy a premium product which can only be used with compatible consumables. For example, as a nespresso machine may only use a certain type of pod, most smart garden competitors will force users to use their proprietary plant pods. Urban Plant Growers believe this is an unnecessary gimmick, which does not provide additional value to the consumer. By locking in the consumer and charging extra for consumables, the customer’s value for money is not considered. The additional cost for these pods are often greater than the cost of buying that plant from the supermarket. 

By comparison, Urban Plant growers follow a “technology neutral” approach, whereby customers can use seeds, growing mediums, or nutrients from any company - but are incentivised to buy from Urban Plant Growers by their rewards programs, good value for money, quick service, and fast postage.

Overseas markets have more relaxed biosecurity laws, which make it easier for Urban Plant Growers to expand their operations outwards.

For further detail please see section 2.8 of the Offer Document.

Equity Crowdfunding allows everyone who shares Urban Plant Growers’ passion for sustainability, food security and the environment to get on board, and help build a range of exciting new products. Urban Plant Growers’ aims to raise funds to accelerate growth while also making a positive impact on the planet.

Don’t miss the chance to be a part of Urban Plant Growers journey to feed the world and make a greener tomorrow!