Investor's Guide:
Viru-Muru
Greenery and energy: indoor mini-gardens
with solar panels by subscription
with solar panels by subscription
THE STAGE №1
No soil. No electricity consumption. Product as a service. It's very simple.
- We provide reusable trays for growing herbs and micro-greenery by subscription
- All products are equipped with solar panels and a built-in battery.
- Access to online support from professional agronomists is included to subscription.
OUR SOLUTION ALLOWS TO REDUCE THE LOAD ON THE POWER GRID, WHILE SIMILAR PRODUCTS REQUIRE ADDITIONAL ENERGY COSTS
Benefits
- The customers eat fresh greens and use the energy of light.
- Every client has 1 free consultation with expert in the field of agriculture every month.
- The tray can be returned at any time.
Customer journey
for the case of renting an individual mini-garden
Customization
The customer chooses the subscription duration and the seeds, we add a suitable organic fertilizer and substrate to the growing kit.
Order delivery
The customer picks up the growing kit at the nearest Viru-Muru office or we deliver it to him.
Growing greenery
The user plants the seeds following the instructions and, if necessary, consults in an online chat with an expert.
Return of the tray
When the subscription ends, the user returns the tray to the Viru-Muru office or we pick up the product from his home.
Earnings plan
the case of renting an individual mini-garden
€30
per month
per month
The subscription includes tray rental, 1x online consultation,
3x bags with seeds, substrate, organic fertilizer
45%
of revenue
of revenue
The expected level of net profit from subscribtion to the use of
the tray
€66
per customer
per customer
Expected LTV if the product is used for an average of 4 months
Problems and solutions
The problems we solve
People want to eat fresh greens, but face the following problems:
❌ Plots of land on fertile soils take a lot of time and money.
❌ Smart mini-gardens are expensive: only few people are willing to spend so much on green hobbies and are ready to engage in cultivation for a long time.
❌ When you leave home for a long time, your plants can die if someone else does not take care of them.
❌ Greens in grocery stores can be old or stale due to logistical difficulties.
❌ Plots of land on fertile soils take a lot of time and money.
❌ Smart mini-gardens are expensive: only few people are willing to spend so much on green hobbies and are ready to engage in cultivation for a long time.
❌ When you leave home for a long time, your plants can die if someone else does not take care of them.
❌ Greens in grocery stores can be old or stale due to logistical difficulties.
The solutions we offer
Subscription to use mini gardens with solar panels allows:
✅ To have access to own greenery without buying a land plot.
✅ To use solar energy to charge devices.
✅ Not to buy expensive smart indoor gardens, to have an opportunity to stop growing greenery at any time and not to lose money.
✅ To eat consciously: to grow exactly as much greenery as you need, and not to turn excess goods into biowastes.
✅ To have access to own greenery without buying a land plot.
✅ To use solar energy to charge devices.
✅ Not to buy expensive smart indoor gardens, to have an opportunity to stop growing greenery at any time and not to lose money.
✅ To eat consciously: to grow exactly as much greenery as you need, and not to turn excess goods into biowastes.
Audience and market size
The main target group
Young and experienced women (21-55)
Married, as well as single
From the Northern Europe
Living in medium (30,000+) and large (70,000+) cities in Estonia, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland, Sweden
Leading a healthy lifestyle and loving to cook on their own
Interested in ecology, physical culture and healthy nutrition, as well as raising children and leading a household
An additional target group
Active men (21-35)
With an above-average income
From the Northern Europe
Living in large (70,000+) cities in Estonia, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland, Sweden
Gym and fitness lovers
Regularly attending workouts and carefully choosing their diet, including vegetarian
3 500 000 people
The maximum possible expected audience for the Northern European market
€21 000 000/year
of revenue
€3 150 000/year
of net profit
if our customized seedling solutions will use at least 5% of the target audience in the Northern Europe
Indoor farming market size (2020)
In 2021 Estonia was experiencing a shortage of its own vegetables:
Estonian total export of vegetable products — $378M
Estonian total import of vegetable products — $541M
Indoor farming market size (2028)
According to researches, the most promising plants: tomato, lettuce leaves, leafy greens, cucumber, bell pepper and chili pepper
The global smart indoor garden systems market size
was $105 627 000 in 2019,
and will grow
to $176 559 100 by 2027
with expected CAGR of 8.4% from 2020 to 2027.
Why is this market so small?
An extremely limited number of people are willing to pay more than 200 euros for a product that they will most likely stop using in a couple of months.
We solved this problem by providing a subscription to indoor mini-gardens
No need to spend hundreds of euros on expensive solutions — subscribe to Viru-Muru and try yourself as a real agronomist.
Go-to-market strategy
At the early stages of the project, we plan to promote with:
✔ articles about our service on resources dedicated to micro-greenery, vertical and home farming
✔ articles about our service on resources dedicated to startups and green business
✔ ads on local and international free advertising sites
✔ organizing of promo campaigns: customers will be able to subscribe for using seedbeds without paying for seeds
✔ organizing of green days in local schools, colleges and universities, sports centers
✔ promotion on a barter basis: organizing of events in local vegetarian cafes and restaurants, eco-friendly shops
✔ signing of partnership and sponsorship agreements with local producers and sellers of garden equipment
✔ launching our NFT collection and using it as a marketing material
The stage №2
green services
The harvest by subscription
Allocation of plots for rent in indoor micro-green gardens and crop cultivation
Customer journey
for the case of using seedbeds
The seeds
The customer selects the seeds that will be planted in the seedbed and additional equipment for accelerating of the harvest
The consultation
If the customer wants, he or she can consult online with an expert in the field of agriculture to choose seeds suitable for his or her needs
Subscription payment
The customer pays for a subscription for the required number of harvests
Planting
We plant seeds and take care of them
The harvest
As soon as the harvest is ready, the customer receives a notification and takes his or her greens from Viru-Muru's garden or we provide delivery
Earnings plan
the harvest subscription case
€4
per crop
per crop
Greener, but not more expensive
than at the grocery store
On average, 5 crops
per customer/month
per customer/month
The maturation period
of microgreens is 5-6 days
€20
per customer/month
per customer/month
No transportation, no loss
of quality, more vitamins
of quality, more vitamins
Temporary care of plants
Placing plants in «a green hotel» and taking care of them
Customer journey
for temporary care of plants case
The place
The customer reserves a place for the plants that he or she wants to leave under supervision for the required period
Allocation
We quarantine the plants, process them, and then put them in «a green hotel»
The care
We take care of the plants and, when the time comes, we return them to the customer
Earnings plan
the case of temporary plant care
€10 place/month
in «a green hotel»
in «a green hotel»
No need to worry about the plants — they will be fine while the client is on vacation
On average, 3 places
per customer/month
per customer/month
There is enough space for all the plants of our customers
€30
per customer/month
per customer/month
A reasonable price for the safety of favorite flowers
Our strategy
2022
to create a prototype of a tray with solar panels, establish supply chains, find the first customers, confirm the business model
2023
to start working with customers from Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden, organize the delivery of trays to the Nordic and Baltic countries and the return of products back to the place of service
2024
to build the first indoor micro-green garden in Tallinn, to confirm business model for the stage №2. Expand the geography of representative offices to the countries of Central Europe (Germany, Czech Republic, Austria), start delivering and servicing trays in these countries
2025
to start working with b2b model: to open gardens at enterprises and offices of companies in Tallinn, Tartu, Maardu, Pärnu, Rakvere. To enter the markets of Finland and Lithuania with micro-green, herb and vegetable gardens
2026
to continue development of indoor gardens in Finland (Espoo, Tampere, Oulu, Jyväskylä), to open gardens in Sweden and Latvia (Stockholm and Riga). To start delivering and servicing trays in Belgium, the Netherlands and France
2027
to enter the markets of Norway and Denmark (Oslo, Copenhagen, Bergen) with indoor gardens. To expand the geography of delivery and maintenance of trays to the entire European Union
2028
to achieve the indicators specified in the realistic project development forecast. Continue to expand in the Northern European market by opening indoor gardens in cities far from the capitals
2029
to start expansion into the Western European market (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg) with indoor gardens. To start working with customized seedling solutions in the North American market
Our ambitions
We are considering three scenarios for the development of the project until 2028
Optimistic
0,5% of the European indoor farming market share,
116 500 000 €/year
116 500 000 €/year
Realistic
0,3% of the European indoor farming market share,
69 900 000 €/year
69 900 000 €/year
Pessimistic
0,1% of the European indoor farming market share,
23 300 000 €/year
23 300 000 €/year
Our competitors
- Retail stores and marketplaces
- Plant Factories With Artificial Lighting: Robbe’s Little Garden (Finland), CityFarm Stockholm (Sweden), Tasen Microgreens (Norway), Daržulis (Lithuania)
- Community gardens: Tartu Organic Community Garden (Estonia), B.Green (Estonia), Helsinki community Gardens (Finland), Bella Byhave community Garden (Denmark)
- Apps and sites for renting seedbeds and gardens: Shared Earth (USA), Yard Yum (USA), Allot me! (UK)
- Individual planting solutions: Click and grow (Estonia), Natufia Kitchen Garden (Estonia)
Current project status
Status: concept
1
Market research
We have checked more than 20 studies about the current state of indoor farming in Estonia, Europe and the world, identified prospects for entering the market
2
The best practices
We have analyzed the activities of more than 50 direct and indirect competitors, studied the positive experience of indoor farming of Estonian and foreign companies
3
Сonsumer experience
We completed 71 interviews with consumers of greenery and owners of home gardens and highlighted the main problems of potential customers
4
First leads
We received contacts of 24 people who showed interest in our product and asked to inform them about the launch
5
Marketing activity
We have created our own NFT collection and attracted an audience of over 500 people on facebook
Why do we need
Stage №1 investments?
Stage №1 investments?
€16 000
for the components for 130 individual indoor mini-gardens: trays, solar panels, batteries, seeds, substrates, organic fertilizers
€9 600
for hiring 1 employee — administrator of the pick-up point for 6 months
€3 000
to cover office rent, accounting and unexpected expenses for 6 months
€10 000
to cover maintenance costs for 6 months
Who is
⚛ 4+ years professional experience of working with startups and innovations: own projects and products of international companies.
⚛ 5+ years professional experience in media including own top-ranked project about Slovakia.
⚛ Education in jurisprudence, sociology, tourism, and expertise in IT, business and media.
⚛ Inventor of the patented balance trainer and creator of multi-user exchange platforms.
⚛ 5+ years professional experience in media including own top-ranked project about Slovakia.
⚛ Education in jurisprudence, sociology, tourism, and expertise in IT, business and media.
⚛ Inventor of the patented balance trainer and creator of multi-user exchange platforms.
Sergei Arlov
Viru-Muru CEO
Sustainability
The use of Viru-Muru's individual solutions for seedlings as well as local gardens, where we will grow microgreens on sawdust, cotton waste and coconut substrate, will help to solve the following tasks related to the sustainable development of Estonia and the Nothern Europe:
❃ reduction of logistics and carbon emissions
❃ reduction of the use of garbage packaging (bags, boxes for greens, etc.)
❃ reduction of excess goods that could rot in the warehouse
❃ taking care of people's health: adding fresh herbs to the diet, reducing the risks of cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diseases of the nervous system, etc.
❃ formation of eco-friendly community and culture of ethical consumption
❃ reduction of logistics and carbon emissions
❃ reduction of the use of garbage packaging (bags, boxes for greens, etc.)
❃ reduction of excess goods that could rot in the warehouse
❃ taking care of people's health: adding fresh herbs to the diet, reducing the risks of cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diseases of the nervous system, etc.
❃ formation of eco-friendly community and culture of ethical consumption
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