January 5×5 Night at Start Garden
Voting Closes:
January 20, 2025 11:59 pm
Impact
Bit-Farms makes the carbon-heavy leafy green supply-chain obsolete. No more packaging, no distribution, no branding or labeling, no plastic, no diesel trucks. No waste. All adding back to savings for the host business and margin for Bit-Farms.
This model offers us the ability to literally bring the farm to the table.
With widely available modern technology, along with a healthy dose of know-how, this business has the potential to reinvent an entire industry. one that is desperately in need of new options.
With a constant supply of fresh herbs and leafy greens, Chefs are able to spend their time doing what they do best. Customers will be impressed by the vibrant ambiance and the fresh aromas of live plants.
Bit-Farms give a deeper connection to the food the employees are preparing, serving, and delivering. A new sense of pride in the ingredients they use.
On-site indoor farming will transform dining experiences and open eyes to the importance of supporting sustainable, locally focused businesses.
We can make an impact by showing the world a new and innovative way to source ingredients and to create a more cohesive relationship between people and their food.
What I'll do with $5,000
Some version of Bit-Farms has been rolling around my head for about 5 years now. It was originally conceived as Kitchen Farmer with the idea of growing microgreens in kitchens for Chefs. With 6 years of cannabis cultivation experience, I knew the fundamentals of indoor growing but not how to build a scalable food business. I spent the next 4.5 years working for indoor farming companies. First, Revolution Farms, then working my way up to Director of Campus Operations with Square Roots, who is strategically partnered with Gordon Food Service.
I learned everything I could from the Executives and Founders of those companies while continuing to tweak my on-site farming business model on the side.
On a whim, at the last moment, I submitted Bit-farms to the 2022 Start Garden 100 and was accepted! This $1000 and validation of my concept inspired me to keep going. Although I was not selected as a winner, I was not deterred. Building off the work from the Start Garden competition, I continued to revise my model and look for opportunities to prove the concept.
Earlier this month, I was included in a large round laid offs by Square Roots. As soon as I was told that my position was being eliminated, I knew I needed to get Bit-Farms off the ground. I needed to raise $75K to build the first field unit and prove the concept works. To raise this, I was going to have to start talking to investors. I read books on pitching, business strategy, and being backable. I assembled an awesome group of advisors, and started practicing my pitch. 21 times was my goal. After everyone i knew was tired of hearing it, I started to respond to linked in requests with "hey I'd like to practice my pitch on you, care to listen?" This turned out to be a fun and beneficial journey. Speaking with lawyers, financial advisors, and creative marketing folks, it really helped me understand where the focus of my pitch should be and, of course, which services they could provide me. The things that stuck out to me were:
1. This is a somewhat unique business model that is tricky to concisely explain, especially to those not familiar with the industry.
2. When selling equity to private investors or partnering with another business, clear legal agreements can be very important.
3. Investors want to know you have things handled and buttoned up. No potential hazards.
So, with the $5000, it's not the most exciting spend, but I would invest $2k on creative services to build an animated video showing how the service works. This video will also be used on in the pitch deck, on the website, and on social media. I would spend the next $1500 on legal to draw up the appropriate contracts for investors and partners. and the last $1500 on architectural and engineering services to ensure no potential hazards. I would also commit to donating Bit-Farms' first $5K in profit to Start Garden to give someone else another opportunity at chasing their dream.