The Four Worlds Podcast
The Four Worlds Podcast explores how a simple idea can grow into something that changes the world. Each episode takes you on a journey—from the spark of inspiration, through the creation process, innovation challenges, and to the path of real-world production.
From sketch to shelf and prototype to product, join us as we uncover the stories behind breakthrough inventions and innovations with the creators, engineers, designers, and visionaries who bring them to life.
The Four Worlds Podcast
Simplifying Sustainable Gardening with Plantaform
“We wanted to create the Nespresso of gardening.”
Co-Founder and CEO Alberto Aguilar shares how simplicity meets sustainability with Plantaform’s smart indoor garden. 🪴
🌱 Learn more about Plantaform:
CES 2025: Plantaform Launches Smart Indoor Gardens with Fogponics Technology
Welcome to the Four Worlds Podcast from Tomorrow's World Today. We're diving into the latest in tech, science, and sustainability, from nature's mysteries and the world of inspiration, to the hands-on crafts of creation, the bold breakthroughs of innovation, and the scaled-up wonders of production. This is your ticket to the stories shaping tomorrow. On this episode, we sit down with Alberto Aguilar, the CEO and co-founder of Plantaform, to discuss their smart indoor gardens that leverage the latest technology to bring the beauty of gardening inside your home. Thank you so much for joining us. I just want to welcome you to the show. Thanks for having me on the show. I've been super excited about this. Yeah, likewise, because Plantaform is really exciting. I'm not sure if we got to connect at CES, but this is kind of how we discovered Plantaform. And we just want to get things started about your story. What is the story behind Plantaform? What inspired its creation? And how did that vision for the company come to
Alberto:life? So initially, actually, it comes a lot from my past when I was a kid. And I grew up in Spain where we grew all of our food and vegetables. We're almost fully self-sustaining for over 10 years. And then when I came to Canada, that came to an end. Obviously, with the harsh winters, living in a small apartment, it was impossible to continue that habit and that joy of gardening. At the end of 2019, one of my old friends from high school reached out to me talking about this idea about growing food indoors, which I was very fascinated about. And then he talked about the fact that, you know, NASA was trying to grow plants in space using this very cool technology called fogponics. And so, you know, I've been in entrepreneurship for a couple of years before that and had other startups. And I thought, you know what, that's very cool. Why don't we try to get into this together? And so, you know, Kiwa, me and our third co-founder, George, decided to get into it and build a better solution to be able to empower people to grow their own food at home. And with the news of COVID just starting up, it actually presented a huge opportunity that we thought, you know what, I think this is our chance. chance to actually get out there and try to solve this big problem. So that really was the birth behind Plantaform.
Steven:Now, that's amazing. And just hearing about your background in Spain, what kind of inspired this all, it's really interesting how all of that takes shape. Now, learning about that, what is the core mission of Plantaform and how does it inspire your team's work every day throughout the years?
Alberto:Well, as an agri-tech company where we're building machines to grow food, really our biggest mission is to contribute to feeding the world of the future. With the higher demand of increasing food supplies and essentially bringing healthier produce and making it more accessible, we're as well in a mission to be able to empower as many people to be able to grow their own food at home. And that's really what has brought this team as well, right? Everyone in the team that has joined has that same sort of like moral compass and commitment wanting to contribute to this mission. So there's that mutual interest, that mutual passion. And it really is what got us together and why we've built such a strong team. No, that's great. And
Steven:what brings you on this show is the Smart Indoor Garden. And that's what we're going to jump into in a little bit. We're going to kind of tease that just a tiny bit. I want to know, you know, just about you and how you started this company. Were there any innovators, leaders, or even companies that kind of inspired the way you approach your work every day and even dating back all the way from the founding of Plantaform.
Alberto:There's many. I mean, I've always said I've been a multiple co-founder in the past. And I've always looked up to many big companies like, of course, Tesla, SpaceX. A lot of these hard work companies are building the craziest things in the world and pushing the boundaries of innovation. With Plantiform, well, we actually started in a very rough spot, right? COVID just began, borders shut down. The whole world was a whole, like it was an absolute mess. And here we are, you know, a few entrepreneurs getting together, going to hardware, agritech and software when we've just been used to building software in the past companies. So, you know, in terms of inspiration, of course, I mean, I think everything that Elon Musk, for example, has been able to achieve or his brother in terms of pushing innovations in agri-tech really is what pushes and gave us the inspiration to leverage COVID, right? And that pause of the world phase to go all deep into this and figure this out. As I said, we don't come from a very STEM background per se, but we were able to connect with a lot of researchers, scientists, professors around the world who had some basic knowledge on fogponics and aeroponics. And so we just kept gathering information and prototypes and testing and kind of like throwing some things into the wall until something would stick. So yeah, I mean, it was just a lot of trial and error, a lot of persistency, a tiny bit of, how would you say? I don't know. I think it's just the ignorance, the ignorance of believing that we can actually pull this off. So that hard headache that we had got us to this point.
Steven:It's funny how those things work, you know, and just comparing yourself to some of these big companies, the different backstory that you have from it. Does that make it a little more special, you know, getting together with some friends and seeing where you've come over the years, especially jumping over that, you know, hump of COVID and getting to where you are today? Does that just make things a little more special?
Alberto:Oh my God, absolutely. I keep telling everyone that like what we've done, I mean, hardware is hard by itself, but being able to combine hardware, agri-tech Like, you know, trying to pioneer in this new technology that there's such a little amount of literature out there. Going into manufacturing when supply chains are so uncertain, it feels like everything was just against us from the beginning, but it just feels so good and so special to like have it brought it all to life and expanding so quickly. And, you know, that vision that we had from day one hasn't changed and it became a reality. So everything about this journey from the people we've worked with, like the achievements that we've been able to get to now being at CES and winning, you know, this year's best Innovation Award. It's just, there's no words to describe how special this journey has been and we just keep getting so excited from where we're heading towards.
Steven:Yeah. And let's just jump right to it. You know, going through all of those years where you guys started, everything that you went through finally brought you to the Smart Indoor Garden. We'll get to that innovation award here in a little bit. But what inspired that, you know, Smart Indoor Garden and how does it work? What is it? Give the people what they want.
Alberto:Well, it all started with how do we allow or empower people to grow fresh food at home and make that the simplest way possible, right? If everyone could grow their own food at home and have a garden, then that would be the main solution for the world. But most people don't have the time, space or knowledge to be able to grow that food. And so we got inspired by Nespresso because brewing coffees like Nespresso does, they always come up perfect. It's super simple and it's a push of a button. Well, Through that inspiration, we were able to create what we call or dub the Nespresso of gardening, where we offer these capsules, right, where there's no soil in them. The seeds are already in it. They're organically sourced. And it works with three simple steps. You put the cup, you add some water, and at the push of a button, instead of brewing coffee, it will brew your vegetables. So really, it's that. It's the simplicity of how Nespresso brews the perfect cup of coffee. Well, we wanted to bring the simplicity of how to grow fresh food at home.
Steven:And just talking about that, you're talking about kind of like a self-sustainability, growing your own food. What are some other of those major benefits from something like the smart indoor garden?
Alberto:Well, there's many of them. It starts with the freshness of the food, right? Even things that are labeled as organic in the supermarkets, they lose 40 to 60% of its nutrient value due to transportation. And they're still sprayed with pesticides, right? They're organic, but they are sprayed with pesticides. And so number one is you're actually providing a farm to table solution that you know exactly what you're eating because you're the one growing it. Number two, the mental health aspect to it. There's so many benefits that we're bringing nature indoors. Here in Canada, especially when winters are very, long, very dark and very cold, it can get somewhat depressing, right? And bringing that nature indoors, the brightness, the life, we get so much feedback from our customers and even our B2B customers like retirement homes, schools, just enjoying the fact that they can grow fresh tomatoes indoors in the middle of a winter storm in December. We're happy the fact that we can bring that to people and provide that connection again with nature. So it's both the actual... physical health, being able to eat something healthy and organic, and at the same time, the mental health that that brings to you.
Steven:Absolutely. You kind of took the words right out of my mouth, talking about those harsh winters, especially up in Canada. And again, just going to that point, where is Plantiform based? We didn't really
Alberto:touch on that. We're based in the capital region of Canada, actually right here in Gatineau in the Quebec border. And the entire team is based here. Our assembly actually is based here as well. And our manufacturing injection molding is based out of Montreal. So we're fully, fully made in Canada product.
Steven:That's great. And again, those harsh winters, you know, it gets cold up there. But, you know, we're here in Pittsburgh and some of the states gets those harsh winters as well. Just talking about those benefits and talking about the space. Some people just don't have that gardening space. So this just provides another outlet for those people, right?
Alberto:Exactly. We wanted to create something compact. And our indoor garden, which is around 60 centimeters wide and 60 centimeters high, it's equivalent to a 15 square foot garden. And that's just compressed into this beautifully designed, we call it a living piece of furniture. So it kind of integrates nice into your living room. But it's very compact and it can fit into any tiny apartment.
Steven:And of course, it's very nature focused. Bringing nature indoors is something that has really grown over the years. And just talk With it being so nature-focused, how does the company use nature as a form of inspiration to keep
Alberto:on going? Well, it's all about how we can bring more nature indoors. The design itself is very ergonomic, right? We want to create something different from what you get in the market. All of our projects are always based on how do we bring more greenery indoors. Besides from indoor gardens, we've been in projects regarding building horticulture rooms. Now we're getting involved more in the vertical farming industry. But it's all about the nature. It's all about how do we change these concrete jungles that we live in into real greener jungles, right? So we're trying to create that bond in between or that bridge in between that. So what
Steven:are some of the things that you talked a little bit about food, of course, some plants. Just give me an example and a little bit of a list of what people can expect if they get a smart indoor garden. What can they grow? What does that look like?
Alberto:Well, pretty much a lot of the things you can find in a supermarket, all the kind of herbs you can find there, you can grow them in the device. Lots of leafy greens from lettuces, spinach, even bok choy, Swiss chard, complex leafy greens like that. They're more rare to find. to like cherry tomatoes. We have customers growing even with chili peppers, habaneros. And there's just so many possibilities that you can grow outside from what we offer already. And we're just continuously launching new pot packs every season. And how
Steven:long is that process? Is it about the same amount of time if you were to start your own garden outdoors?
Alberto:Significantly faster. The average height of lettuce in a garden might take up to two months, right? Until it hits maturity. Because of the unique technology that we're using, you can actually see harvest as fast as four weeks from the day that you plant the seed. So very, very quickly and literally with absolutely no maintenance.
Steven:That's actually really encouraging to hear because that might perk people's ears up because some people, like you said before, just don't have that time to focus on their garden. We all live such busy lives. So that's definitely one of those major benefits that you were talking about earlier.
Alberto:Absolutely. It's all about time savings and making this as simple as possible for the user.
Steven:Yeah, and let's talk about that technology that goes in into being capable of growing all of these products in your home, all of these leafy greens, plants, food. What is that technology? You mentioned it a little bit before, but I would really love to get into how that technology works.
Alberto:It is the thing that we brag the most about at Plantaform, because it's our core values, our core focus, and the one thing that we've been working the longest until today. And that technology is called fogponics. I'm sure you've heard of hydroponics. I'm sure you've heard of aeroponics. Well, fogponics Rock ponics is just a little bit more of an advanced subset of aeroponics, which was initially studied and developed by NASA to be able to grow plants in their space stations. This research that NASA was doing was abandoned just over a decade ago. And we came across it in late 2018. And pretty much what talked about, and again, Note that there's a very little amount of literature online about this technology, but it stated that, you know, NASA was using this tech to be able to grow plants using this fog that was delivered to the roots. And this fog would carry nutrients. It would provide greater access to oxygen to the roots, essentially resulting in the plant growing significantly faster. So increased yields and utilizes 50% less water than hydroponics. So of course, in a place like space where water is scarce and it's all about growth and accelerated growth, this technology made absolute sense. So when we came across the article, we were like, well, why are they not using that here? I mean, vertical farms could benefit from this. People could have this NASA technology into their homes. And so this is what makes this technology so worth it and why we kept throwing things at the wall until we could prove that this technology would actually grow plants efficiently. But yeah, it's the most water efficient technology in the world and could confirm that's also the fastest plant growing tech out there. Absolutely.
Steven:Just talking about how significantly faster it is to grow these food really stands out to someone that's probably listening to this or is interested in your product. And just talking about the use of the water, how does Plantiform incorporate sustainability or those ethical considerations into your products and your technology developments?
Alberto:Well, number one, we actually quantify the amount of units that are being used in the market. Therefore, how much water we're actually able to save. You know, over 50% of the natural freshwater reserves in the world are used in agriculture. And by use, I mean wasted because they're not properly been efficiently used. So we're trying to conserve as much water wasted in freshness with this technology. And number two, the yields, right? If within a 12-month harvesting season, we can increase by one more harvest, then we're contributing to actually increasing the amount of produce they can grow. And then number three, and one of the reasons why we focus a lot on bringing the farm to your table is to be able to reduce the GHG emissions and essentially the food miles that it takes for food to regularly get to your table, which on average, it takes 20 Taking all of that into
Steven:consideration, how important is it to stay sustainable in your
Alberto:industry? I think it's the only solution. I mean, we're heading towards a future where by 2050, we're just not going to have enough food for people. The global population is growing at such a rapid pace that if you're not focusing on sustainability within the agri-tech industry, and you're not finding ways on how to localize food even better and making it more accessible to everyone, then you're already running behind in the industry. And so, of course, having a vertical farm in your backyard would prevent you from ever going to a grocery store, but that's also inaccessible to most people. So our contribution to being able to create that future is let's educate and contribute to being able to bring that farm to people's table. And then you will see how people will be more inclined to buying more local. And just talking about that and talking
Steven:about the technology, how does this make you stand out in the industry? Are you kind of a first to dip your toes in this industry? Kind of explain and walk me through that.
Alberto:I mean, there's a few pioneers in the world that are testing with fogponics. There's one in Germany that we've been working with, another one in the UK, one in Panama. But not that many people have been able to successfully control this tech or understand the limitations of it. But in terms of where we stand, we're not the leaders in the world in terms of agritech. I can admit that we're not going to be the ones solving food hunger. But we are the ones who are leading in this fascinating technology, which we are aiming for other industries or other vertical farmers to adopt in the near future. We're pretty much a puzzle piece on this entire picture where we could create a perfectly sustainable future. You know, that puzzle piece like the other ones are, they're super important to fit. And we're playing our part to be able to create a better irrigation system with this technology. And, you know, hopefully the new standards, right, which have been hydroponics for the last couple of centuries, switches over to now becoming fogponics. You know, we'll be able to release a lot more water, obviously increase yields, increase profitability. So we're doing our part and we're very proud to be here and to be able to now create an impact in this industry in the near future as well. Yeah, it's
Steven:obvious that you have sustainability at the forefront of your mind with your product, with your company. Let's look at the production process. What does that look like? Is sustainability still on your mind throughout the production process as well?
Alberto:Absolutely. I mean, part of localizing is to be able to reduce transportation, right? So manufacturing in Canada allows us to localize everything, sourcing the materials locally. We do the injection molding in Montreal. All the plastics then are brought to our facility in Gatineau, which is just two hours away. And then here we assemble all the products together and then we ship them directly from the warehouse to all of our clients. Same with the plant pots. The plant pots are made here in Canada as well. The seeds are organically sourced locally within Canada and the US. So imagine just all the vessels that we're avoiding, right, from manufacturing everywhere around the world, but to be able to localize this here. And as we are expanding now globally, we're also looking to open different manufacturing facilities around the world to localize the demand from those regions. So, you know, it's a complex process from the injection molding to assembling of electronics. We even go through a 24-hour quality control testing period before the devices are packaged and shipped to our customers. So there's a lot of care, there's a lot of quality and precision in terms of every unit that goes to the market. And that's because we need to deliver the outmost perfect product to people, right? If something goes to you and there's an issue and it's shipped back, well, it goes against our GHG reduction of transportation. So we make sure that everything is perfect before it comes out and it stays here in North
Steven:America. That's really encouraging to hear and just hearing about that production process all the way up to your product. It earned you a Best Innovation Award at CES 2025, a huge accomplishment. What does it mean to get that recognition for Plantaform and how will it shape those future goals that you may have set?
Alberto:You know, when you got friends and family that always just say how proud they are of you because of what you're doing. Well, it's that times a hundred because it's the validation that we're looking for. It's that sign that what we're doing for is right. And it actually, people resonate to it. And it seems like people are adopting it as well, right? So for us, it's beyond our expectations. Our first CES, we came here to present our latest updated product and winning this award. Well, it blew our minds off because it just validated that what we're doing is the world's best and one of the world's best innovation awards of the year. And so we have that validation and now we just need to keep pushing forward. And the demand and traffic that this has created has been overwhelming. And we're looking at so many new opportunities into helping the vertical farming industry, collaborating with researchers. And I think the world is now attentive on what we're doing and attentive on Fogponics. And I think that what we've been trying to do is coming to a reality thanks to this
Steven:award. And how do you ensure that plan of form remains at the forefront of innovation? Because I'm sure that's not the end goal, getting that innovation award at CES. So how do you make sure you're staying at the forefront of innovation as this industry continues to grow and evolve?
Alberto:Well, we have a robust R&D team in-house, and we also work in collaboration with the Canadian government. It's the Canadian National Research Council. So we're continuously developing this technology, always testing new applications. always filing new patents. And we're also doing international collaborations with other research institutions to be able to come up with new challenges. As I mentioned in the beginning, the reason why a lot of people are not successfully testing with FogPonics is because they do not understand the limitations of the technology. And so if you do not understand the limitations, how can you know that you're maximizing the potential of this tech? And so that's what we're continuously doing every single day is pushing that boundary, pushing the limitation and finding new applications for this tech. And that's how we plan to keep being the forefront of Fog And you just talked
Steven:a little bit about some of the challenges that come in this industry. How do you overcome those with innovation?
Alberto:Research Council. So leveraging a lot of the scientists and researchers from the government of Canada is the reason why we're here today. That's great.
Steven:That's great. As we wrap this up, hearing all about Plantform, all about the Smart Indoor Garden, let's talk about your team. Obviously, you know, you talked a little bit about the co-founders and everything. Let's talk about the group as a whole. How do you continue to foster creativity and innovation with your team?
Alberto:You know, it's a startup and startups are... The absolute opposite from anything corporate. It's always a roller coaster. It's always up and down. But we always try to foster that teamwork mindset and always start our meetings with understanding what's our northern star, what is the company's core values, and what's our mission. And by repeating that continuously and aligning our quarterly goals and yearly goals, it kind of keeps everyone tight and aligned. And there's always that... You know, reassurance that every department is pushing to their best because it's intentional. And everyone that comes at Plantaform and works with Plantaform always has an intentional motivation to keep pushing things forward. So, you know, I definitely would not be where we are today without the amazing team that has created Plantaform.
Steven:No, that is really great. And where do you see Plantiform going in the future? What's next for your company? What's next for the smart indoor garden? Is there any upcoming projects that you're working on that you wanted to talk about? Well, we're
Alberto:working on an AI model that will actually allow people to go with their own seeds. We're planning to launch that towards the end of the year. And it's very cool because, again, we offer the plant pods, which they are pre-tested and everything, so that you know you will get the perfect results at all times. But there's also a group of people that like to test with their own seeds, right? They want to grow their own garden. They want to be fully independent. And so we are making that possible for them. Unlike all the other competitors that, you know, are forcing clients to buy from them, we actually want to give you that freedom as well. So this AI model, we use image recognition and will allow you to grow with your own seeds. And based on how your seeds are growing and adapting, the device will change its conditions such as temperature, humidity, light wavelengths, the watering cycles. and change based on how your plants are growing. So that's a very, very exciting future that we're launching. And we're also now expanding to the Middle East at the end of the year and getting involved with some vertical farming projects that we're very excited to announce later in 2026. That's great. And
Steven:I'm looking forward to growing this beautiful working relationship with you guys. I would love to continue to see you grow and stay connected. And as we wrap this up, how do people find Plantaform? Where can they find you? How do they stay connected?
Alberto:I mean, you can follow us on any of our socials, which is our handle is Plantaform. You can find us directly at plantaform.com. There's a few retailers that carry our product as well. And if you're in the U.S., Our website on Amazon.com is available across Canada. There's a lot of retailers on Amazon.ca and, of course, our website directly.
Steven:And let's talk about, you know, someone looking to purchase one of the smart indoor gardens. Give us a little bit of info about that, how much it costs, shipping, all of that good stuff. So for
Alberto:our American friends, we've made it a little bit cheaper for the American market. We sell the product at $4.99 US, and that includes the device. It includes your first pot pack, includes the windows, the nutrients, includes absolutely everything to get it started. The shipping is all included as well, so you don't have to worry about that. But you better hurry. We sold out our entire US inventory in the first week and a half. We had to restock it. We sold out from that one again. So it's been very exciting. And very great to get the support from the American market. But yeah, at $4.99, you get the entire garden ready for you.
Steven:That's incredible. That is incredible. Anything else that you wanted to add maybe we didn't get to touch on? The floor is yours.
Alberto:You know what, for whoever's hearing this, if you've got a garden or you've got a farm that you're growing your own food, this product's not for you. But if you're not and you don't have that farm and you don't have a garden and you're looking to grow the freshest produce year round and be able to contribute to creating a greener future, then I think we've created the perfect product for you. Greens are the push of a button. It is organic. And we strongly believe, based on this award, that we probably created one of the best indoor gardens in the world.
Steven:That's so great to hear, Alberto. Thanks again for jumping on, talking a little bit about Plan to Form, the smart indoor garden. I'm really looking forward to seeing where your company and your product goes in the future. Thanks
Alberto:so much, Stephen. Really appreciate it.
Steven:Thank you, Alberto. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Four Worlds Podcast. Until next time, you can catch up on the latest innovations shaping our world at TomorrowsWorldToday.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
