Aeroponic seed pod startup receives $200K state grant
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A Purdue University alum’s startup has received another large investment to manufacture aeroponic seed pods.
Evansville-based Heliponix was awarded a $200,000 Indiana Manufacturing Readiness Grant from by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. The grant, administered by Conexus Indiana and the Next Level Manufacturing Institute, is given to manufacturers to make capital investments and integrate new smart technologies.
The funding will allow the current subscription platform for sustainable, at-home seed pods to increase its production, according to Purdue.
“This funding has dramatically increased our ability to manufacture these seed pods, but in a volume that will quickly outpace the collective yields of the largest farms in the world,” Massey said in a news release. “It further accelerates our pursuit to collectively become the largest farm in the world without owning any land.”
The company does business as Anu and previously as Gropod. Purdue Polytechnic Institute alumni Scott Massey and Ivan Ball developed a smart garden appliance that provides customers with daily servings of produce from subscription seed pods.
The pods use a form of hydroponics, which means plants grown without soil. Massey said his company allows people to grow produce at home in a controlled environment.
Massey was also named to the Conexus Indiana Rising 30 Class of 2023, honoring distinguished manufacturing and logistics leaders.
The company has also received a $100,000 grant from Purdue Research Foundation’s Ag-Celerator Fund as well as SBIR funding from the National Science Foundation with matching funds from Elevate Ventures.
“Indiana’s support for small businesses is not just unparalleled, but Indiana’s long-standing history of advanced manufacturing has resulted in it being the best possible headquarter base for us,” Massey said.