FolioGrow
Cloud-based HorticultureSolution for Cannabis Cultivation

There has been no better time for legal cannabis growers in the U.S. to tap into its market potential and make it a mainstream business. As several states have legalized the recreational use of cannabis, professionals are getting in on the ground floor of a brand-new industry, as it is steadily becoming one of the country’s most valuable cash crops. However, at the core, cannabis farming is a dynamic process— involving different stages of growth. Each cannabis strain has unique requirements of light, water, nutrients, pruning techniques, and temperature to ensure the maximum amount of yield per plant. Learning how to control all the variables in a commercial grow operation can be a daunting task with a lot of micromanagement.

Several years ago, the same thought dawned on Brett Strauss during a chance visit to a cannabis farm. A serial entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in developing enterprise software in the B2B space, Strauss was quick to realize that he could improve crop efficiency and yield through customized monitoring and automation. “During the visit, I saw personnel using whiteboards and notepads for managing employee tasks, strains, plants, and crop data. This gave methe idea to shift their existing workflow to an online model, leading to the conception of FolioGrow,” says Strauss, co-founder and president of FolioGrow. “Although the cannabis industry is continually prospering, the margins are getting thinner and companies are looking to increase production volume and sales while reducing costs, which is no easy feat. Our cloud-based horticulture platform is geared toward addressing this need through analyzing data real-time. Think Moneyball for cannabis cultivation.”

In a bid to increase production volume, maximize profits, decrease costs, and manage teams across all facets of cultivation, the company is on a mission to revamp traditional farming practices. Their cloud-based horticulture operations solution leverages math and algorithms to help compliment traditional cannabis farming practices. “We aid growers in overcoming the environmental factors that deter the maximum yields of cannabis and subsequently optimize cultivation in limited square footage to boost profitability,” Strauss says. The SaaS solution enables growers to comprehensively manage and streamline the cultivation process including the management of employees, growing process, and R&D. By helping growers collect and interpret crop data, FolioGrow compares that information with the productivity of each harvest and allows companies to boost the production volume. By figuring out the most valuable strains, FolioGrow guides growers to increase their harvest in the next batch. Further, built on an open platform, FolioGrow can also seamlessly integrate with any hardware or software solution through APIs.

Offered with a 30-day free trial, the software is designed to address the unique requirements of investors and stakeholders, grow managers, team members, and sales managers.

For investors and stakeholders, FolioGrow’s mobile app provides a 360-degree view of all aspects of growth and real-time analytics to estimate and forecast revenues. The Grow Manager app enables growers to assign tasks to employees, track and analyze the activity of each employee, and manage batches, strains, team members, and supplies. Besides providing visibility into crop schedule, the app comes with a stopwatch that tracks the timeframe of each task, enabling planters to break down the cost to the minute. With an intuitive mobile interface, the company’s Team Manager app aids Team Members in managing all the daily tasks and activities along with just-in-time training for users. Finally, the company’s Sales Manager app allows users to track inventory, generate orders, and sign contracts on their mobile devices along with viewing past orders and setting pricing instantly. “We also offer a big data solution that can garner business information to glean strain specific data and merge it with the plant information from other anonymous companies using FolioGrow,” adds Strauss. “This way users can compare their performance with others in the industry, to improve both quality and volume of their yield.”

We help you squeeze the maximum amount of revenue out of every square foot within the limited number of hours in each day

Unlike other seed-to-sale concepts in the market, the uniqueness of FolioGrow stems from its sharp focus on just farming, tracking, and managing processes to maximize the results. “We help you squeeze the maximum amount of revenue out of every square foot within the limited number of hours in each day.” he states.

Forging ahead, while artificial intelligence (AI) and its application through machine learning are being increasingly used to automate processes and decision-making, Strauss is optimistic about the technology disruption in the farming space. FolioGrow is implementing AI into its arsenal so that irrigation scheduling becomes a seamless experience for growers. Further, the proliferation of technology in cannabis farming will play a pivotal role in increasing revenue during each harvest. “We envision a time when plants can communicate their needs with built-in sensors and adjustments to their task calendars can be made based on that feedback. With a tagline ‘Know More. Grow More,’ our goal is to collect as much data as possible so that clear, concise and profitable decisions are made,” concludes Strauss.