Evansville-based Anu lands grant to develop, commercialize its ‘Keurig for plants’
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Evansville-based agriculture technology firm Heliponix LLC — which does business as Anu — is getting national recognition and more funding.
The company, previously known as GroPod, was awarded a $175,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Anu has created what it calls a “Keurig for plants” that can be used to grow food in homes and commercial environments. The system is part of the work Anu and its commercial manufacturing partner, ekō Solutions, a subsidiary of Land Betterment Corp., are doing to provide sustainable, year-round food production without pesticides or preservatives.
The company said it will use the small business grant to develop and commercialize Anu’s Pure Produce Containers, which use a proprietary rotary aeroponics technology.
The containers provide a modular, compact solution for its self-nurturing seed pods, which contain all the necessary nutrients for each individual plant, said Anu CEO Scott Massey.
The SBIR grant, which opens the door for a potential $600,000 Phase II SBIR grant, is the latest recognition for the company and
Last month, Anu won first place and $20,000 among 10 small businesses at the national SCORE 60th Anniversary Pitch Competition in Des Moines, Iowa.
READ MORE: Evansville-based ag-tech startup Anu making headlines in 2024
In May, the company won AgriNovus Indiana’s HungerTech Innovation Challenge, and co-founder Ivan Ball was named one of the Conexus Indiana 2024 Rising 30. In March, Massey made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and traveled to Africa for the fourth time to expand Anu’s initiative to address food insecurity.
The company has raised more than $6 million in funding since its founding.