Author: azeeadmin

RudderStack, a startup that offers an open-source alternative to customer data management platforms like Segment, today announced that it has raised a $5 million seed round led by S28 Captial. Salil Deshpande of Uncorrelated Ventures and Mesosphere/D2iQ co-founder Florian Leibert (through 468 Capital) also participated in this round.

In addition, the company also today announced that it has acquired Blendo, an integration platform that helps businesses transform and move data from their data sources to databases.

Like its larger competitors, RudderStack helps businesses consolidate all of their customer data, which is now typically generated and managed in multiple places — and then extract value from this more holistic view. The company was founded by Soumyadeb Mitra, who has a Ph.D. in database systems and worked on similar problems previously when he was at 8×8 after his previous startup, MairinaIQ, was acquired by that company.

Mitra argues that RudderStack is different from its competitors thanks to its focus on developers, its privacy and security options and its focus on being a data warehouse first, without creating yet another data silo.

“Our competitors provide tools for analytics, audience segmentation, etc. on top of the data they keep,” he said. “That works well if you are a small startup, but larger enterprises have a ton of other data sources — at 8×8 we had our own internal billing system, for example — and you want to combine this internal data with the event stream data — that you collect via RudderStack or competitors — to create a 360-degree view of the customer and act on that. This becomes very difficult with the SaaS hosted data model of our competitors — you won’t be sending all your internal data to these cloud vendors.”

Part of its appeal, of course, is the open-source nature of RudderStack, whose GitHub repository now has over 1,700 stars for the main RudderStack server. Mitra credits getting on the front page of HackerNews for its first sale. On that day, it received over 500 GitHub stars, a few thousand clones and a lot of signups for its hosted app. “One of those signups turned out to be our first paid customer. They were already a competitor’s customer but it wasn’t scaling up so were looking to build something inhouse. That’s when they found us and started working with us,” he said.

Since it is open source, companies can run RudderStack anyway they want, but like most similar open-source companies, RudderStack offers multiple hosting options itself, too, that include cloud hosting, starting at $2,000 per month, with unlimited sources and destination.

Current users include IFTTT, Mattermost, MarineTraffic, Torpedo and Wynn Las Vegas.

As for the Blendo acquisition, it’s worth noting that the company only raised a small amount of money in its seed round. The two companies did not disclose the price of the acquisition.

“With Blendo, I had the opportunity to be part of a great team that executed on the vision of turning any company into a data-driven organization,” said Blendo founder Kostas Pardalis, who has joined RudderStack as Head of Growth. “We’ve combined the talented Blendo and RudderStack teams together with the technology that both companies have created, at a time when the customer data market is ripe for the next wave of innovation. I’m excited to help drive RudderStack forward.”

Mitra tells me that RudderStack acquired Blendo instead of building its own version of this technology because “it is not a trivial technology to build — cloud sources are really complicated and have weird schemas and API challenges and it would have taken us a lot of time to figure it out. There are independent large companies doing the ETL piece.”

Bang & Olufsen has an excellent reputation in home audio, and its original Beoplay E8 fully wireless headphones were a category leader when there was barely a category to lead. The company recently launched the third version of the E8, a new generation of hardware that comes with a number of improvements for better audio quality and convenience, including wireless charging, up to seven hours of continuous use on a single charge, and the latest Bluetooth standards for improved audio quality, operating distance and latency.

B&O’s latest wireless headset is a must-have for sound quality enthusiasts as a result, providing all-day comfort and wearability, excellent passive sound isolation and rich, sophisticated audio performance that does a good job of rendering the low end but without sacrificing any detail at higher frequencies, either.

Design

The design of the actual Beoplay E8 buds hasn’t changed much since the original version – but in this case, that’s a very good thing, because the original design has remained one of my all-time favorites for fully wireless in-ear buds. You get a small, sleek bud with a rounded face and touch-sensitive surfaces for manual control.

B&O have made some updates to the design, including getting rid of a irregular nub that stuck out somewhat from the otherwise circular sides of the original, and on the black version I tested, what was once an inner silver-colored metallic accent band on the face now has a shiny black finish. The overall effect is to make them even more understated and attractive.

While the originals also offered great fit, in my use it seems like B&O have improved the physical design on that scale, too. Whereas before I would occasionally have to reseat one or the other of the buds to get a proper noise isolating seal, the E8 3rd generation seems to just fit properly one they’re in, no matter how long you wear them.

The last thing to mention regarding design is the case. It’s somehow both smaller and more pocketable than the case for the original, but also includes wireless charging so that you can set it down on any Qi-based wireless charging pad (the same kind that works with modern iPhones and Android devices) and have it charge both the case, which contains additional battery capacity for the buds (bringing total play time to up to 35 hours, per B&O), and the buds themselves. The case is wrapped in a pebbled leather finish that feels fantastic, and a magnetic clasp ensures it stays closed while in transit. Magnets also help you make sure your buds are properly seated in the case to charge.

Performance

The first point to make about the 3rd generation Beoplay E8 is that they sound fantastic. By just about every measure, they are the best-sounding wireless earbuds I’ve used, including the AirPods Pro and Sony’s WF-1000MX3, both popular options. The E8 manage sound separation and clarity that is sure to please even hardcore audiophiles, and they sound great regardless of what kind of music you’re listening to, but they excel with high-quality, lossless recording formats.

In terms of sound isolation, the Beoplay E8 are also outstanding performers. They don’t have active noise cancellation, but their passive blocking is extremely good at keeping out ambient noise. So much so that it’s good B&O included a transparency feature (accessible by tapping the left earbud) to pipe in ambient sound, which is great for when you want to be more aware of your surroundings. Sound isolation and comfort both get even better when you make use of the included Comply memory foam eartips that ship with the Beoplay E8, which is an excellent bonus since generally speaking, Comply tips require an additional purchase for just about every other set of earbuds.

The E8 is also a great headset for making calls, thanks to onboard mics that provide clear vocals mostly free of background noise. And because they feature both aptX and use Bluetooth 5.1, they’re also excellent for watching video and taking video calls on both mobile devices and computers, without any real noticeable lag.

Bottom line

Bang & Olufsen make premium products, and they come with premium price tags – at $350, the Beoplay E8 3rd Generation is no exception. But for that money, you’re getting premium build quality, great aesthetics and class-leading sound. For those who want the best audio possible in fully wireless buds, these are the ones to get. They’re fantastic for all-day wear for a work-at-home lifestyle, and offer great portability and sound transparency for taking with you on the go, too.

The European Commission is proposing to direct billions of euros of financial relief into high tech and green investments to help the bloc recover from the coronavirus crisis.

Technologies such as 5G, AI, cloud, cybersecurity, supercomputing and renewable energy look set to benefit from a €750BN pan-EU support package set out today — aligning with the Commission’s pre-existing policy priorities before the pandemic struck the region, causing thousands of deaths and major economic damage.

“Urgent action is needed to kick-start the economy and create the conditions for a recovery led by private investment in key sectors and technologies. This investment is particularly crucial to the success of Europe’s green and digital transitions,” it writes in a factsheet on its budget proposal set out today — which is being slated as a wider “recovery plan” for Europe.

“Investment in key sectors and technologies, from 5G to artificial intelligence and from clean hydrogen to offshore renewable energy, holds the key to Europe’s future,” it adds.

On the green deal front, it’s touting:

• A massive renovation wave of our buildings and infrastructure and a more circular economy, bringing local jobs;
• Rolling out renewable energy projects, especially wind, solar and kick-starting a clean hydrogen economy in Europe;
• Cleaner transport and logistics, including the installation of one million charging points for electric vehicles and a boost for rail travel and clean mobility in our cities and regions;

It also plans to funnel more financial support into a Just Transition Fund to support re-skilling and help businesses tap into the economic opportunities offered by digitization and going green.

The Commission estimates that at least €1.5 trillion will be needed to reboot the EU’s economy as a result of the pandemic crisis in 2020-2021 alone — so the budget proposals include a revision of the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework as well as a financial framework for the 2021-2027 period.

The Commission is proposing to borrow €750BN on the financial markets, through the issuance of bonds, for a ‘Next Generation EU’ fund which will be channelled through EU programs between 2021 and 2024 — with the loan to be repaid over “a long period of time throughout future EU budgets” (not before 2028 and not after 2058).

It’s proposing three investment pillars for this fund: One focused on support for EU Member States via direct investment and reforms; a second focused on kick starting the EU economy by incentivizing private investments; and a third aimed at learning lessons from the COVID-19 crisis, with a big focus on health, as well as civil contingencies and foreign aid.

Under the first pillar, digital and green technologies are set to benefit from a proposed €560BN Recovery and Resilience Facility that will offer EU Member States financial support for related investments and reforms, including a grant facility of up to €310BN and up to €250BN available in loans.

“Support will be available to all Member States but concentrated on the most affected and where resilience needs are the greatest,” the Commission said today.

It’s also proposing €15BN extra for the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development — to “support rural areas in making the structural changes necessary in line with the European Green Deal and achieving the ambitious targets in line with the new biodiversity and Farm to Fork strategies”.

Under the second pillar, a new Solvency Support Instrument is intended to mobilize private resources to support what the Commission bills as “viable” European companies in the sectors, regions and countries most affected. It wants this support to be operational from 2020, and is suggesting a budget of €31BN with the aim of aiming to unlock €300BN in solvency support for companies from all economic sectors (to “prepare them for a cleaner, digital and resilient future”, as it puts it).

There’s also more money for the InvestEU investment program which the Commission wants to see hitting €15.3BN over the budget period to spin up more private investment in projects across the EU.

It’s also proposing a new Strategic Investment Facility be built into InvestEU which it wants to generate investments of up to €150BN to boost the resilience of “strategic sectors”, again notably those linked to the green and digital transition — with €15BN set to be chipped in here from the Next Generation EU pot.

Under the third pillar, the Commission is earmarking €9.4BN for a new health programme, EU4Health, that’s intended to strengthen health security and prepare for future health crises.

While the Horizon Europe research program is set to get €94.4BN — including to support what it dubs “vital research” in health, resilience and the green and digital transitions.

Commenting in a statement, European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “The recovery plan turns the immense challenge we face into an opportunity, not only by supporting the recovery but also by investing in our future: the European Green Deal and digitalization will boost jobs and growth, the resilience of our societies and the health of our environment. This is Europe’s moment. Our willingness to act must live up to the challenges we are all facing. With Next Generation EU we are providing an ambitious answer.”

In terms of next steps, the Commission’s budget proposals will need to gain political agreement from the European Council. It’s hoping will be achieved by July, with the EU’s executive keen to impress on Member States there’s no time to lose in financing coronavirus relief.

The EU parliament will also need to have its say but the Commission has penciled in early autumn for the adoption of the revised 2014-2020 framework and December 2020 for adoption of the revised Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 (as well as Member States’ Own Resources Decision) — with the aim of implementing the latter framework in January 2021.

WarnerMedia unveils its new streaming service, Donald Trump is mad at Twitter and GE Lighting has a new owner.

Here’s your Daily Crunch for May 27, 2020.

1. HBO Max launches today, here’s what you need to know

At $14.99 per month, the service — initially available to subscribers in the United States — is more expensive than competing offerings like Netflix and Disney+. But from another angle, it’s still a pretty sweet deal, since you’re getting HBO, plus a whole bunch of extra content, for the exact same price as an HBO subscription.

Subscribers to HBO’s standalone streaming service HBO Now should be able to update their app to HBO Max today. The app is currently available for a range of devices including Android phones and tablets, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromebooks, Chromecasts, iPhones, iPads, PlayStation 4, Samsung TV and Xbox One — but not yet for Roku or Fire TV.

2. After Twitter fact-check, Trump threatens to regulate or close down social media platforms

After Twitter added a fact-checking warning label to the president’s misleading tweet about mail-in ballots, Donald Trump took to the platform to denounce it. In what may be his strongest words yet against a service that has largely given him free rein, he tweeted, “Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen.”

3. Smart home company Savant set to acquire GE Lighting

The division has existed as part of General Electric since 1911, with its origins reaching back even further to Thomas Edison’s work in the space. Today the GE Lighting portfolio still largely revolves around bulbs, but it’s also the home to C by GE, a series of smart home products.

4. Google removes millions of negative TikTok reviews amid backlash in India

Hashtags such as BanTikTok, DeleteTikTok and BlockTikTok have trended on Twitter in India in the past three weeks after users unearthed recent videos that appeared to promote domestic violence, animal cruelty, racism, child abuse and objectification of women.

5. What should startup founders know before negotiating with corporate VCs?

For startups, taking funding from corporate venture capitalists can come with many benefits, including new opportunities for marketing, partnerships and sales channels. Still, no founder should consider a corporate investor “just another VC.” CVCs come with their own set of priorities, strategic objectives and rules. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

6. How do several local news stations air virtually identical Amazon COVID-19 segments?

The company has been on the offensive in recent weeks when it comes to how it has handled the COVID-19 pandemic. Amazon’s offered all sorts of blog posts, public statements and made the subject a centerpiece of its recent shareholder letter and earnings report. It also went ahead and uploaded a suggested news segment to BusinessWire, complete with warehouse footage and a script for news anchors.

7. YouTube Kids app is now available for Apple TV

YouTube Kids is meant to give children a safer alternative to YouTube, where even Restricted Mode can let through violent content and other things parents and caretakers don’t want kids to see.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

Instagram today is launching new tools that enable video creators to make money, including badges that viewers can purchase during Instagram Live videos and the introduction of IGTV ads. Both launches are considered a test as the company is limiting the features’ availability during its experimentation phase, it says.

Badges will give viewers a way to support their favorite creators while also standing out in the comments, similar to efforts on other live video platforms, like YouTube and Twitch. There will be different “heart” badges viewers can choose from, offered at price points of $0.99 for one heart, $1.99 for 2 hearts, or $4.99 for 3 hearts. Viewers can only buy one badge during a live video.

Once purchased, the badges will appear next to the person’s name throughout the live video as they comment, which helps them to stand out. This helps creators more quickly see which fans are supporting their efforts and give them a shoutout, if desired, or respond to their questions. In addition, creators will be able to see a list of all their badge holders.

Beyond Instagram, fans have been able to support Facebook Live creators by purchasing Stars on live videos, which is more of a virtual tipping mechanism. Video creators have also been able to monetize by inserting ads in their Facebook Live videos or collaborating with brands.

The new Badges will launch next month with a small group of creators Instagram has chosen to work with here in the U.S. In the months ahead, the feature will expand to other markets, including Brazil, the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Spain, and Mexico, in addition to becoming more broadly available across the U.S.

During the testing phase, Instagram isn’t taking a revenue share of badge sales but will later take a percentage cut of an undisclosed amount.

The launch comes at a time when Instagram has seen rapid growth in its live video platform, as creators and fans have been sheltering at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic. From February 2020 to March, Instagram says Live creators have seen a 70% increase in video views, for example.

In addition to the debut of Badges, Instagram is also introducing advertising within Instagram’s long-form video platform, IGTV.

The IGTV ads will initially appear when people click to watch IGTV videos from the previews in their feed. These ads will be built for mobile and up to 15 seconds in length.

This is also considered a test as Instagram is looking to see how ad placements like this should work — after all, interrupting the experience at the exact point the user has been encouraged to click to see more could end up hurting video views. The company says it will also test out the ability to skip ads, to ensure the product works well for viewers, creators, and advertisers alike.

IGTV ads will be tested initially with a small group of creators and advertisers, including Sephora and Puma, in the U.S. It will slowly expand access to ads over time. The company says at least 55% of the revenue from advertising will go to the creator.

Bloomberg had reported in March on Instagram’s plans to introduce ads in IGTV, in a move to challenge YouTube.

An Instagram spokesperson declined to share growth metrics for IGTV, which has also seen increased usage during the COVID-19 crisis. Just ahead of the outbreak, IGTV was struggling — only 1% of Instagram users had downloaded the app and the company had pulled the IGTV button from Instagram. That’s now begun to change with more brands returning the platform in March and April, leading to growing views and engagement numbers.

“Creators have different needs and ambitions. Providing a variety of monetization tools is crucial in order to support all creators on Instagram, from emerging digital stars to established entertainers and everything in between,” said Instagram COO Justin Osofsky, in a statement. “We’re excited to add these two new revenue streams to the mix of tools for creators to help them generate additional income to fuel their work.”

The company, which recently announced Live Shopping, says it has more plans in the works for monetization in the months to come. This includes an expansion of shopping to more creators who want to sell their own merchandise and the rollout of Brand Collabs Manager to all U.S. creators

The philanthropic arm of the Zuckerberg fortune is infusing $3.8 million worth of grants into nearly two dozen open source software projects in biomedical research. It’s the second such disbursement of funds, and a third will be open for applications next month.

The grants range in size from $50,000 to $250,000 and any biomed-centric project with impact and room to grow is eligible to apply for them. Of course, they have to be open source as well.

“Hundreds of thousands of scientists each day use open source software to carry out their research. Scientists deserve better tools, and we’re helping to meet that need by supporting open source projects that will advance biomedical science and foster greater access to critical software,” said Cori Bargmann, head of science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, in a press release.

CZI has supported biomedical software efforts consistently since its foundation, for instance giving the Human Cell Atlas $68M to continue its invaluable work. Its other, larger scale efforts (in the billions over years) aren’t quite so narrowly focused.

Today’s grantees cover a wide variety of applications within biomedical science and research. Here are the very brief summaries; you can find more detail at the CZI announcement.

• Real Time Collaboration in Jupyter
• Enabling Biomedical Science with Common Workflow Language
• Nextflow and nf-core: Reproducible workflows for the scientific community
• Revitalizing NetworkX for Complex Network Analysis
• Providing a solid foundation for network analysis (igraph)
• Scaling Python with Dask
• Xarray: N-D labeled arrays and datasets in Python
• Rebuilding the community behind VisPy’s fast interactive visualizations
• Computational Biology Software Maintenance Framework (libSBML, Deviser)
• HTSJDK: Enhancing the Java toolkit for emerging sequencing technologies
• Improving the User Experience and User Engagement for UCSC Xena
• dynverse: a toolkit for studying cell development with single-cell omics
• Open source software for bulk and single-cell RNA-seq (kallisto)
• Expanding the Open mHealth Platform to Support Digital Biomarker Discovery (Open DBDP)
• OpenSim: An open source biomechanics simulator to study movement
• MACS3: a versatile peak caller for gene regulation studies
• OpenCRAVAT community building for integrated variant annotation framework
• ETE Toolkit: Phylogenomic data analysis and visualization
• Open source image registration: the elastix toolbox
• Bridging The Gap In Medical Image Analysis and Biomechanics with ITK-SNAP
• Improving usability of core neuroscience analysis tools with MNE-Python
• The Percolator analysis engine for tandem mass spectrometry data
• OpenMM: Key infrastructure for biomolecular modeling and simulation

Congratulations to the grantees. If the list above seems like it should include your open source biomedical software project, you can send your application in for the third round starting on June 16.

It all happened so fast.

In a matter of weeks, companies everywhere shut down offices and went fully remote — with employees working from home and connecting over video and email instead of in-person. And those are just the people lucky enough to still have jobs.

To say this has made work more difficult is an understatement. But what about people who are just starting new jobs and those who are responsible for onboarding them? How do you get someone up to speed when you’ve never actually met them? How do you make them feel like part of the team when the team itself is scattered across the country and around the world?

How do you foster and maintain the culture when so many people are never in the same place?

This post aims to share lessons from leaders who run distributed companies — including GitLab, Elastic and others — about how to onboard employees and maintain culture in a remote work environment. Done right, these steps won’t just make things easier during this tough time; they will also help over the long-term as some teams move to more distributed, remote environments.

The lessons themselves fall into three main buckets:

Write it down

Writing things down may sound like more work, but having a record also forces people to think through processes and make sure they are consistent. Winging it isn’t good enough anymore. Neither is accepting different levels of training depending on who your manager is. It’s time to make what was somewhat informal and ad hoc more formal and concrete.

When it comes to onboarding, every company should ask themselves:

• What is the process for onboarding?
  
  

When it launched in April, Quibi carried the express mission statement of offering short form videos designed to watch on-the-fly. The service’s narrow focus rubbed a lot of potential subscribers the wrong way, with many requesting a more traditional method for watching the service’s series.

Ultimately, Quibi’s launch was a disappointing one, with founder Jeffrey Katzenberg blaming the COVID-19 pandemic for the service’s rocky start. It was a strange assertion, given how other streaming services have thrived amid lockdowns. In the same interview, the exec also alluded to the addition of support for streaming to TV.

The move followed an earlier suggestion that the feature was already on the roadmap, though the pandemic and Quibi’s disappointing performance may have accelerated the launch of a feature, which honestly ought to have been present since day one. Quibi has just delivered on that promise, by adding support for Apple’s AirPlay. That means iOS users can now stream Quibi’s frustratingly short content directly to their AirPlay-enabled sets.

Chief Product Officer Tom Conrad noted the change on Twitter, “Sure we designed Quibi for on-the-go, but these days visiting the family room is like a day trip… so AirPlay support is live for iOS in Quibi 1.3.” What’s more, support for Chromecast streaming will arrive next month, according to the executive.

Interesting that the news comes the day HBO is launching its eagerly anticipated Max service, the latest powerhouse in an already crowded streaming market. But it’s certainly nice to see the company continuing to evolve after what’s been mostly regarded as a disappointing launch. Now might we recommend doing something about show length?

You don’t need a green thumb and a big backyard to grow baskets of fresh produce. In fact, according to Chicago-based Rise Gardens, you probably just need a bookshelf’s worth of space in your living room and an app.

Rise Gardens, an indoor hydroponic gardening system, has raised $2.6 million in seed funding for home-grown produce. The financing was led by True Ventures .

Rise Gardens sells a hardware and software indoor planting system. Customers receive a home garden kit and can assemble the system, which looks like a piece of furniture, in 45 minutes. Then, users can input Rise-provided plant pods in each row of the system to grow produce of their choice, from butter lettuce to tomatoes and arugula. The “garden” comes in three sizes, which Rise Gardens details as “matching the dimensions of an entryway table, a credenza and a shelf.”

Rise Gardens’ in-home plant system

Rise can offer this flexible solution thanks to hydroponics, a scientific method that grows plants using nutrients and water, rather than soil and sunlight. The planting system includes specific features to optimize growth. For example, Rise provides a meter for users to check the pH of the water.

From a software perspective, Rise has an app that tracks how often a user should water their plants. It also sells a subscription-based offering that brings new “seed pods” and nutrients to customers on a monthly basis.

While the system is intentionally designed to resemble furniture one would already have in the home, according to founder Hank Adams, it has a use beyond aesthetics.

The company uses vertical farming to produce food all on a vertical plane, and created a system that is both self-sustainable and flexible. In Rise’s case, it means that the user can grow root vegetables on one shelf, tomatoes and lettuce on the other.

Looking at Rise’s venture-backed competition, the concept of vertical farming isn’t new. It helps people bring more produce to fruition while staying conservative on space, because it builds up instead of out. Plus, the indoor system lets you grow year-round, instead of relying on Mother Nature.

Infarm closed a $100 million Series B in June for vertical farming tech targeted toward restaurants and grocery stores. Plenty has raised hundreds of millions for indoor farming technology. Other companies that have their eyes on indoor farming systems are AeroFarms, BrightFarms, Bowery Farming and Freight Farms.

But from a consumer angle, which is where Rise is coming from, the competition isn’t as fierce, claims founder Adams. He says that most solutions that exist in the market right now for consumers stick to growing a few herbs.

Avalow, for example, has built a self-watering, sub-irrigation-based and raised planter bed to help consumers grow herbs from the comfort of their homes.

Adams says that Rise wants to be a more wholesome solution.

“Our system was built to grow a lot of volume of food,” he said. “We didn’t want to grow something that was an overtly and purely visual interest.” He claims that Rise can grow a head of lettuce in 22 to 25 days.

Since shelter-in-place orders began, Adams claims that sales have increased 750% and Rise has sold 6,000 seeds per week in the last two months, which represents more than 1,500 pounds of produce. But he says this uptick in usage isn’t due to people avoiding the grocery stores, necessarily.

“We’re not telling you that you never have to go to a grocery store again after your system is a month old,” he said. “You will, but it does have an impact” on the total amount of groceries you buy.

So Rise is selling to someone who wants to supplement their food intake, not replace it with their own indoor farming setup. The hardware itself is more luxury than modest: Rise Gardens starts selling at $550. Adams claims that the system will pay for itself (in produce) after 16 months of usage.

So while an indoor farming system might not yet be a casual household appliance found next to the toaster, Adams finds hope for his currently luxurious company by peering at the past.

“In the past century there was a lack of appliances that felt like luxuries at the time, like dishwashers,” he said. “But now you can’t imagine living without a dishwasher or washing machine.”

A hopeful side effect of this pandemic is that nutrition will be more of a conversation, and priority, in all of our lives. With new cash, Rise Gardens is betting that that conversation around food sourcing will turn into action.