Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,
@wedge has requested to extend the community discussion period for this AIP idea. This topic will automatically close a further 6 days from now. We encourage the community to continue to engage in thoughtful discussions through constructive criticism, honest feedback, and helpful suggestions.
Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.
Nice work, I must say your effort really need to be compensated.
I believe the team behind Home Harvest is well-equipped to deliver a strong web3 integration.
Ok, so we’re essentially bootstrapping an already existing business model here by selling $2million of APECOIN which will be used to build a business around an already existing product, the kitchen salad grow garden.
The cloud infrastructure seems silly, unless you’re going to use some kind of vision system to identify the state of the grown crops. Any IoT data you gather is 100% pointless imo with out knowing whether the grow is a success or not.
You’d do much better having local infrastructure testing different grow conditions locally by hand then pushing out updated configs if you identify a tweak. You’d save an absolute ton of time and money.
Kitchen salad grow gardens are already availabel from $100 to $300 but you will enter at a higher price point of $350-$495.
In turn BAYC, MAYC holders etc will be aidropped $GROW
Profits from the venture will be used to buy $GROW tokens from the market which will then be emitted to Home Harvest users
I’d like some specifics, rather than using a %age of profit for buy backs, why not a %age of sales? It’s less likely for hollywood accounting.
Even better, why not consider a more traditional VC idea where APE DAO owns 60% of the business for the $2 million investment?
Given the importance of the APE DAO funding, I’d also suggest leveraging the BAYC/MAYC brand for the idea rather than just some small batch branded units. IMO the entire venture should be BAYC branded.
Just some thoughts.
What’s the patent number for the lighting system and who’s the owner?
This topic was automatically closed after 6 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
Hey Rus,
Thanks for your feedback and getting in on the conversation. We’re trying to ensure
this is one of the stand out AIPs of the year and all constructive feedback really helps.
Once we get into voting stage we’ll have a open forum where we can discuss further, but here’s some brief responses:
Every startup thinks they’re different, but we’ve spent the last 3 years meticulously testing our prototypes and customer proposition, building, growing and talking to customers. We are confident there are currently no other consumer-growing units in the market within our price bracket that deliver professional and consistent growing results that could be relied on to deliver ‘food to fork’ in the home 365 days a year anywhere in the world. Our ultimate aim is to bring reliable production of food closer to the home of food production, starting with these units. Our target market is not just the ‘green fingered’ with time on their hands. Our smart farms have been designed for cost conscious, busy families and working professionals where the priority is both a healthy diet and convenience at an affordable cost. This not only ensures the end user has a healthier, more nutrient-rich diet but also provides an alternative to an unsustainable food infrastructure that the world currently relies upon.
You mentioned the lower price bracket grow units too. We’ve tested some of these ‘grow box at home’ products and they are (in our opinion) unreliable, messy, low in yield and thoroughly in-convenient to use in the home. They simply fall short of being a reliable alternative to visiting the supermarket. Currently only the professional units are capable of a reliable output and our smart farms undercut their grow time AND cost by a substantial margin (see p33 of the IM for info on the cost savings vs shop-bought produce, also p49 for a snapshot of the current competitor landscape in home-grow units)
The cloud infrastructure, as you point out, is there to remotely (and smartly) optimise the
growing environment depending on the crop being grown (by changing the lighting duration,
humidity and temperature), using our agronomy platform. Importantly it also ‘connects’ growers and enables them to take snapshots of growth for their grow diaries, re-order supplies, access the rewards system, participate in community engagement. IoT access to the cloud importantly allows us to reward our users with carbon offset credits for the contribution that their unit and activity is having on the environment (via $GROW token).
There are multiple benefits to the BAYC, MAYC and APE communities. These are listed under the ‘specific benefits’ section of the AIP, but in short:
All communities get airdrop of our $GROW token. As per the tokenomics paper, this token is part of a perpetual rewards system, using profits from unit sales and subscriptions / peripheral sales to buy back and burn or replenish the monthly emissions pot. Essentially, sharing in the growth and success of the company.
All units would be Ape branded and the packaging and marketing campaigns would also focus on this being an MBA product. The PCB boards would be etched with ‘made by Apes’ and there are also limited edition units available only to Apes. This IS an Ape product through and through, not just a limited run of stamped items
We’ve begun partner conversations with some lifestyle brands for other custom or limited
edition grow units. Again, Apes would have first refusal on these, along with any other limited edition merchandise or collaboration we pursue
It’s a small point, but Apes would also have first refusal on job interviews and vacancies within the company, again allowing Apes to put their stamp on a real-world company, aiming to solve the future agriculture crisis and future-proof millions of people against food in-equality.
You would be able to use Apecoin to purchase units or subscriptions
Apes also get access to money can’t buy events and experiential shop launches / parties, as well as one-one chef and wellness classes, TBD.
The original AIP was for a higher sum of investment in exchange for 20% equity in Home
Harvest as well as token and peripheral benefits. However, we were advised that there are
certain complications in providing equity to the DAO, especially with regards to who actually sits on the board and who from the DAO is responsible for any tax implications / liabilities as a result of a capital gain in the enterprise value of the business or dividend payments.
Therefore, we’ve decided to split the AIP into 2, allowing us to deliver on our initial milestone goals with the first investment and use some of that initial funding to work with the Ape Council, Waabam and our legal team on an appropriate framework for an equity stake in the follow-up AIP.
We have to use a % of profit for buybacks, % of sales doesn’t take into account operating or
company costs. Or we could use % of sales, but it would be a smaller % obviously. The
specifics of the emissions and token infrastructure are also in the tokenomics paper. The use of a tokenised reward scheme also allows us to reward customers for carbon offsetting as well as the grow2earn concept - each unit will reduce carbon emissions vs traditional agriculture methods of production. The $GROW token become the method of exchanging the value of a carbon offset credit with our users.
Re: your point about a more traditional VC funding route - as mentioned already in this
reply, we’ve looked into this and have been advised that designing an equity deal with the DAO will take some time to ensure it is structured efficiently from a financial perspective. However, we believe passionately that this kind of world-changing initiative and business model needs to be ‘powered’ by web3, both as an example of how to support a web2 product and customer base, but with enhanced web3 capabilities AND as an example of how web3 communities are some of the most active and forward-thinking groups in the world. It will also demonstrate that, as a collective, we are solely responsible for helping people to live longer, feed their families and safeguard against climate change and extremes in weather that are becoming more prevalent.
We believe this project can be a mainstream PR ‘poster child’ for how web3 is going to become integrated into our lives, led by forward thinkers, tech entrepreneurs and responsible community leaders.
Re: the patent number for the lighting - the owner of the patent Sylvania is listed in the IM
(page 62, our partners). Home Harvest have a global, multi-year license agreement for sole use of the patented Helios lighting system within a growing environment.
Hi @wedge,
The community feedback period for your proposal would be ending in less than 24 hours.
If you’re content with the feedback received, your next steps are to finalize your proposal using the AIP Draft Template.
A moderator will reach out to the author to finalize the AIP Draft. Upon receipt of the final Draft, we will review and provide instructions on the next steps.
Are you ready to proceed to the next phase or do you wish to extend community discussion for another 7 days?
We look forward to hearing from you.
This topic was automatically closed after 6 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,
@wedge has completed editing their AIP Idea to be their AIP Draft.
This proposal has been assigned the AIP ID Number 444.
Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.
Kind Regards,
Great idea.But the cost little high
You are asking for 2m USD Investment on what terms. What is the Valuation Pre Money?
Also why is your product so much cheaper than the competitors you listed? Do you have any IP that can give you a moat of protection to stop them just replicating your tech?
It’s great to see how much effort went into this AIP. The idea is great and the cause is noble. However, I do not see how you are a first mover with this product since I used a similar one at home for the last 6m. Grow XYZ - all you need is water and light.
I met someone during NFC that told me you rejected VC funding for this? Why?
Why go the extra web3 mile that will not sell you any additional units & will only create additional costs and complexity? You will have a “useless” token that will only create problems (liquidity, CEX listings, salty community etc.)
All this so you can raise funds without giving away any equity?
Why should anybody buy this token? I feel this will be a 10m mcap token with 5k daily volume.
An airdrop of this in return for a 2M dollar investment. Does not seem like a good deal tbh. Will most likely be worthless and hard to sell.
Plus a few branded units and accepting ApeCoin as payment method… we all know that this is fugazi utility that everybody includes. Same like Governance 
I would suggest that you try to get VC funding asap and remove all web3 plans again.
Hey bigbull,
Thank for your questions. Sorry for the delay been at NFC and now getting back into it.
The current valuation for the business is £14m / $17.5m
As part of the design process, we have worked hard to ensure the retail price is acceptable for the mass market and benchmarked against similar discretionary products. Our consumer research has shown that delivering on a price point under £400 / $500 removes barriers to entry based on pricing. To achieve a low cost we have incorporated features, manufacturing processes, material and consumable parts which allow for a lower cost of manufacture. This also includes the lighting technology which is a significant cost of the overall machine.
With regards to IP and protection, our product’s unrivalled performance and USP is delivered by our patent protected lighting technology for which we have an exclusive global licence. Without this lighting, it is not possible to replicate the performance, reliability or price point of our smart farms. There are other commercially sensitive features that we will also protect that provide both competitive advantage and differentiation. We also believe our rewards programme and ability to earn carbon credits (powered by web 3) is a big differentiator where we will have first mover advantage / create strong customer lock in.
Hi Kodama,
Thanks for your valuable input. We’d like to follow up and provide some explanation to your comments:
First mover advantage – There are currently no other smart-farms on the market that offer anything close to the growing performance, reliability, mass market pricing or subscription service that Home Harvest delivers. We have designed and tested a product over the last 3 years that uses patent protected LED lighting which produces virtually no heat, meaning it is highly cost effective to run and work in an enclosed environment. Growing in a mechanically ventilated cabinet delivers professional and reliable results that are simply not possible with the kind of ‘hobby’ grow units that are currently on the market.
Our technology (app and platform) allows for real time optimisation of the growing environment using IoT. This ensures the perfect growing environment every time. Essentially our design and technology ensures the Home Harvest product delivers reliability that a consumer can trust 356 days a year to harvest over 200 varieties of healthy greens and herbs, via a sticky, monthly subscription of the highest commercial grade seeds and accessories, not normally available directly to consumers.
We also have the Home Harvesters IP to develop kids’ interest in growing and eating healthily and the ChatGPT like ‘Health Co-Pilot’ to inform and educate on what specific leaves, greens and herbs would be most beneficial to your diet or routine and how to incorporate them into your recipes and cooking schedule.
We think our consumer proposition delivers so much more than just ‘water and light’.
Use of Web3 and value of token – Integrating web3 technology and tokenisation provides important benefits to our mass market proposition. Firstly, it allows us to easily reward users in a safe and secure way for growing, harvesting and eating more healthily. We also have incentives in place to incentivise long-term holding and staking and a roadmap of development to unlock future utility, access and events, using $GROW and $APE as the ‘keys to the kingdom’.
The use of smart contracts and block chain allow us to measure and reward users directly in carbon credits, potentially via Klima (and our rewards programme) for their contribution in removing carbon from the food supply chain. This is not possible, or is hugely cumbersome using traditional web2 banking and marketing methods and we feel another good example of why web3 and a wallet-connected market is a good fit for our product and mission.
We don’t mention this much in the AIP, but we also believe there is a huge market for a De-Pin or node / validation-as-a-service play too - by year 3 our projected sales could put us on a par with Ethereum in terms of our number of validation nodes and again, a tokenised backbone of rewards / contract framework means we can split and reward this potential revenue stream more easily with a wallet-connected, contract-based environment.
Our ‘grow to earn’ model is certainly unique and a first in the world, and we believe essential in encouraging consumers to change their behaviour as we build a global movement for ‘growing wellness’. With regards to the value and liquidity of our token, one million active Home Harvest users will deliver substantial volume and liquidity through a token that will be supported in regular buybacks by Home Harvest, as fully outlined in our token economics paper. In the paper, we have tried to make clear that the core mechanics and contracts surrounding the token are aimed at long-term growth, perpetual rewards and as an example of how future technology products (we feel) will launch and reward users more effectively than traditional web2 methods.
VC investment – From the outset, we have been adamant about making this an AIP.
Our belief has always been that the strength of the Ape community rivals, or even surpasses, that of any capital raise. We have had numerous conversations with VCs but have not seriously considered their offers as always wanted to bring this to the apes first.
Our dream is for this AIP to demonstrate in practice, the commercial opportunity for a world first web2/web3 integrated mass market product.
Originally it was our intention to offer an equity stake and seat on the board of Home Harvest as part of this AIP. Following advice we now understand that there is no mechanism to support the acceptance or distribution of equity to the DAO. So airdrop felt the best way. It is fully our intention to continue to explore the potential to provide equity in exchange for investment from the DAO as part of any future AIP submission
We hope that answers your questions and happy to chat about any other aspects
Love this proposal glad to have spoken to the guys about it before hand, let’s go. The nature of these units becoming validator nodes alone is genius. The fact the web 2 consumer focused business model would on-board untold users to ApeChain with their automatic wallet and account is huge. The airdrop could be worth insane amounts because most of the normie holders will never trade, they will just earn and enjoy meaning holder counts and soft staking metrics could be huge.
Not to mention the global property development market - if developers around the world begin putting these in their apartments as standard and as a way to off-set their Carbon foot print it will be an insane game changer.
There is a lot of merit to this AIP, yes it is expensive, (and cost can be broken down into stages to make sure it is not paid out all at once), but it also allows for a positive feedback loop to be created between the different stakeholders, especially if there is the node / RWA element to it.
What would be even better, is IF $Grow node infra would launch on Apechain (if this is technically feasible)
It would also be good to learn more about how the $Grow ecosystem will scale
Thanks for the talk just now very informative, can’t wait to see and hear more about it.