CITYBLOOMS COMPANY BACKGROUND

Located in Santa Cruz, California at the intersection of the world’s tech and agriculture capitals, the mission of Cityblooms is to make farming ‘smart’. The inspiration for Cityblooms came out of a desire to provide sustainably grown food for a rapidly expanding population. With this in mind, Cityblooms created its first commercially available modular farming system in 2013 when it began growing produce on-site for Plantronics Inc., working in conjunction with Bon Apetit Management Company. Cityblooms' customer group now spans from large publicly-traded corporations, to commercial farmers, to avid hydroponic enthusiasts. Cityblooms won the prestigious Acterra Business Environmental Award in 2015, and was name one of the “Top 10 Companies to Watch in Monterey County’s Growing AgTech Hub.” Cityblooms was awarded 3 patents for design and utility of modular farming systems as of March 2017. The system is flexible, scalable, and easy to install in warehouses, on rooftops, in parking lots, and anywhere in between.

In developing modular farming systems, Cityblooms created an integrated technology stack that includes sophisticated sensor arrays and reliable equipment automation coupled with a powerful farm management platform. The company also realized that there were few solutions on the market for small to mid-size growers that were affordable and flexible enough for their needs. Most solutions with the features they were looking for were designed for large farms and too costly. Other solutions for hobbyists did not have the robust functionality they needed. Cityblooms understands first hand the need for a reliable, intelligent solution that enables small to mid-size commercial growers to more efficiently grow food safety certified crops in controlled environments, minimize risk of any crop loss, and save precious time. Cityblooms is making this technology platform available to controlled environment growers, and has already installed the system in a number of commercial growing operations in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Cityblooms Technology Solution

Cityblooms Technology gives growers of any size the ability to see in real time what's happening in their controlled environment growing operation.  From a single grow room to growers that manage multiple growing locations, Cityblooms empowers growers to access and see critical data, and track growing conditions, calibrate sensors in real time, forecast crop production, schedule equipment maintenance, track and manage farm tasks, and get alerts.  Not only that, growers can conduct fully digital food safety audits, eliminating cumbersome paperwork.  The Cityblooms Technology Platform works with 3rd party devices and legacy systems to enable growers of any size to integrate and control critical farm systems, and see and manage irrigation, temperature, and nutrient delivery via single mobile app.    Fail-safe mechanisms ensure that everything works without interruption -- even when the Internet is down.  The Cityblooms Technology Platform was developed after years of experience managing farming operations, with important features growers need, based on first hand experience.  

The system is designed for any controlled growing environment including greenhouses, hoop houses, indoor farms, grow rooms, prop houses, and commercial vertical farms.  Enterprise farm solutions are often too costly for small to mid-size growers, and Cityblooms can deliver a more affordable solution with similar robust commercial farming functionality.  The wireless, internet-enabled solution is not only easier to install and maintain than other wired solutions, but is also flexible enough to move from one location to another when needed.  

EASY AS 1-2-3

The system has been designed so growers can pick and choose elements of the solution that meet their needs.

Cityblooms has designed its platform so that it is modular, and growers can start with data visualization, crop tracking, and/or alerts. Or, they can get set up on the entire technology platform. As they grow, they can easily add functionality, and additional devices, crops, and locations.

THE COMMANDER AND DASHBOARD

The solution is made up of The Cityblooms Commander and The Cityblooms Dashboard. The Cityblooms Commander is the command post for your farm. Using a wireless network, it gives you the ability to see and interact with critical data impacting your crops using a computer, tablet, or smart phone.  The Cityblooms Commander works with Cityblooms Monitors -- sensors placed strategically about your farm to gather information;  and Active Agents -- Cityblooms and 3rd party devices that intelligently automate irrigation, nutrient management, heating and cooling, lighting, and more.  With our Control Panel App you can adjust set - points for critical farm equipment, calibrate sensors, and create irrigation schedules -- right from your phone.  We have designed our solution so that everything runs smoothly and without interruption -- even when the Internet is down.  

The Cityblooms Dashboard is the place where you store all your data using the latest database technology with secure hosting and data back-up in the Amazon Cloud.  Your data is valuable, and we can help you manage it to enhance your growing operation and save you time.  You can add "Modules" to your Dashboard that give you increased functionality.  Our Monitoring Module gives you real time data visualization and alerts, 24/7, anywhere, with the ability to add control at any time.  Our Farm Management Module allows you to track and forecast crop production, assign and manage farm labor and maintenance tasks, and execute paper-free Food Safety audits.  

The Cityblooms Dashboard with Crop Tracking Module

 

 

What's different about the Cityblooms Technology Solution?

 

1.  RELIABILITY:  We designed our solution so that it always works -- even when the Internet doesn't.  We provide "logic where you need it," so that you can access information in the cloud to better run and manage your farm, without relying on the Internet for your critical farm systems to work without interruption.  Need to stay on top of or remotely manage growing operations in multiple locations?  Our solution ensures you see everything that's happening in real time, 24/7, with the peace of mind that critical systems never miss a beat.

2.  FLEXIBILITY:   We have designed the system so that we work not only with Cityblooms hardware, but also with a growing number of 3rd party devices and off the shelf sensors, giving you flexibility to design a solution using the Cityblooms platform that works with your legacy systems and meets your needs.  Not only that, our solution is wireless, which means you won't need installation and maintenance of what can amount to miles of control wire.  And -- if you need to adjust what crops or sections of your growing operation you are monitoring, it's easy to move things around.

3.  TRACEABILITY:  Our farm management platform tracks crop production schedules, equipment maintenance, and labor -- so you can do "paper free" digital food safety audits, and eliminate time consuming regulatory paperwork.  We also enable historical yield analysis, and even enable enhanced customer service from your vendors with service ticket creation and tracking capability.

Cityblooms developed the platform during years of experience managing farming operations, and incorporated important elements the company knows first hand that growers need.

The Cityblooms Technology Solution is currently installed and successfully working on commercial farms and controlled growing environments in the Bay Area, including private growers, small commercial operations, educational institutions, and estate homes, as well as its corporate customers, including Plantronics and a large public company in Silicon Valley.

 

 

MODULAR FARMING SYSTEMS

Cityblooms also continues to produce its patented, modular farming systems that grow a variety of crops with minimal loss and optimal yields. These hydroponic, modular farms can be installed in parking lots, on rooftops, and anywhere in between, and use 90% less water than traditional farms. All of Cityblooms modular farming solutions include Cityblooms technology to keep growers connected 24/7. Cityblooms also manages on-site farms for large companies, growing healthy, ultra-fresh, food safety certified produce for employees or customers.  Our modular micro-farms include outdoor open or enclosed cultivators, indoor growing units, and large indoor vertical farms.