Atlanta based PodPonics announced the commercialization of its Grow Pod Technology, collaboration with Sharp Electronics, and the addition of Mark Thomann to its management team. PodPonics has entered into a collaboration agreement with Sharp Electronics and a manufacturing relationship with Sharp Manufacturing Company of America. Through this collaboration, PodPonics is able to combine its innovation with the significant expertise, resources, and outstanding quality Sharp is known for.
Together, PodPonics’s technology now has immediate commercial availability worldwide via Sharp’s massive manufacturing capabilities. “LeveragingSharp’s worldclass manufacturing and supply chain capabilities increases our production capabilities while drastically reducing our costs," said Matt Liotta ,founder of PodPonics. “We are also excited about leveraging Sharp’s design for manufacturing expertise to refine our technology.”
In addition to commercializing its technology, PodPonics has also expanded its management team with the addition of Mark Thomann, the former CEO and Chair man of FarmedHere. Mark is a branding and intellectual property expert and through his experience with FarmedHere, Mark has established himself as a thought leader in the vertical farming industry. Mark Thomann stated: “Knowing that advancements in indoor agriculture technology are the key to economic viability, I am convinced that PodPonics possesses game-changing technology that can positively impact the future of this category. "An outspoken advocate for collaboration with inthenascent industry, Thomann added, "I have decided to apply my vertical farming, IP and branding experience as a new member of the PodPonics’ management team to help oversee their growth and execute on their global licensing & technology distribution strategy.”
According to research released by New Bean Capital in March2015, the market demand for “localfoods” has exploded from $1 billion in 2005 to $7 billion in 2013. Indoor farm operators will now be able to license PodPonics’s operations, control and automation technology to enhance existing infrastructure, increase yield, and capitalize upon this growing market.
PodPonics’s technology portfolio includes the following: TechOps: ACloud-based ERP platform that incorporates big data analytics to optimize systems and processes for any indoor agriculture environment with seed-to-sale life-cycle management that includes
• Infrastructure Operations & Control
• Production Management
• Inventory Management
• Kitting, Manufacturing & Order Fulfillment
• Traceability & Food Safety
• Purchase Orders & Billing
Control System: A Linux- based IoT autonomous system that senses and controls the growing environment and manages theg rowingprocess. PodPonics developed the proprietary control systeminhouse and owns the IP for both the hardware and software.
Lighting System: In collaboration with Sharp, the PodPonics lighting system has been designed specifically for vertical farming with best in class efficiency and affordability. The lights are fully controllable using industry standards. Further, the lighting system can be fully integrated with Tech Ops and the Control System providing automatic adjustment for precision cultivation using PodPonics's patent-pending optimization approach.
Grow Pod: A Turn-key scalable & stackable growing system that transforms shipping containers into a highly efficient local growing environment capable of producing in excess of 1 million pounds annually of leafy greens per acre. Further, with Grow Pod stacking, each additional level increases the annual production by 1 million pounds.
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