In 2012, a man had an idea. He wanted to ‘create simple plug-and-play automation’ for the home grower. By 2013, a fully functional prototype was born. With the support of venture capitalists and Kickstarter investors, the complete line of smart gardens for the at-home-cultivator came to fruition with the Niwa One.
As time marched on, the Niwa Team expanded and so did their ideas. Innovating is no new venture for the minds at Niwa; so it comes as no surprise that only a few years after the successful launch of the Niwa One, co-founders Javier Morillas and Zachary Damato shifted their focus to the cannabis industry.
“We wanted to dig deep into the behavior of growers and what they wanted from a controller with an app”, said Zachary. So both Javier and Zachary began interviewing growers, visiting hydro stores, speaking to YouTubers and anyone who was an experienced home grower – and started asking lots of questions.
It was a humbling experience for them. Though they had created automated products in the past, the behavior of a home grower using a smart controller versus an automated garden were completely different. Additionally, they quickly learned that the cannabis grower must have unshakable trust in their equipment. The time put into cultivating and the monetary value of the crops being produced is something the two founders do not take for granted.
Sticking with the mindset of ‘creating simple plug-n-play automation’, and after months of diligence and research, the Niwa Grow Hub concept was born. With laws changing in every state, and with home growers given the opportunity legally grow their own, they felt the market needed an affordable automated controller. The Niwa Grow Hub hit shelves in 2021.
Making sure the product they created was affordable and simple to use, along with it being reliable, was essential for their team. Especially considering how busy life can be – even more-so for home growers.
As plant science, cultivation equipment, and methods advance, so too has Niwa. To this day, their team continues to work with professional growers to continue learning the different expectations a grower has for a smart controller. Zachary mentioned how important the feedback process is to their product & software development and they consider themselves as ‘facilitators’ and looking forward to expanding the Niwa Grow Hub platform for all types of home growers for cannabis, mushrooms, microgreens, and more.
The Grow Hub+ is the latest innovation from Niwa. For growers concerned about what’s going on in their garden, any user can check the live status of their garden by glancing at their dashboard or checking the ‘stats’ section to view live and historical grow data within their garden. Additionally, growers can create their own custom grow recipe and customize the ideal climate they’re seeking (for different times of the day) and the scheduling (i.e. water, light & fan) needed for their plants.
With the goal of reducing stress and enhancing your garden’s performance while maintaining a stable growing environment, the powerful Niwa software enables growers to automate their setups in a simple way. Just assign your existing devices (such as lamps, fans, humidifiers*, dehumidifiers*, A/C remote triggers*, water pumps, CO2 devices and heaters) to the designated outlet within the Niwa Grow Hub+.
Get connected and begin your journey to automating your garden!
*Any grower with a Grow Hub needs to be aware of the in-rush current larger pieces of equipment need to operate. Please contact customer service ([email protected]) to discuss in detail or if you have any doubts.
