Garden Technology To Disrupt The Cannabis Industry
When you think of an industry, you might think of automotive, fashion, medical or biotech that is expected to be worth $1.2 trillion by 2020 according to PWC.
And industry can also mean crops and in this case, legal cannabis which is expected to be worth about $35 billion by 2020 according to a report by GreenWave advisors. Enter a co-founder of Zynga, the creators of Farmville, Tom Bollich who decided it was time to put it all on the line and jump into what he sees as the next great American industry.
The company he founded, Surna, is actually garden-specific technology that can be applied to the cannabis industry. They make water chilled climate control systems that help growers control the climate of the growing environment.
Surna just closed a 1.325 million dollar round and the management team was just bolstered by the addition of Todd Whitaker as vice president of engineering who previously designed systems for the Mars Phoenix Lander and Mars Rover for NASA. Add that resume to Bollich’s robotics background and it indicates the company is serious about evolving the technology for this industry with an eye towards conservation.
All of the equipment from Surna is designed for the legal marijuana grower but applicable to other hydroponic agriculture needs. Because Surna doesn’t touch the cannabis plant, the company is not affected by cannabis regulations.
Bollich also stands out by drawing a line in the sand stating he wants to see VC’s start funding more cannabis related companies. Bollich compares the cannabis business to the start of the Internet two decades ago and believes the cannabis business is on the cusp of being as disruptive as the Internet was at that time.
“The explosive growth and political changes beginning to sweep across United States proves it will not only infuse billions into the economy but change a number of industries,” said Bollich.
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