Cannabis Auto-Grow Startup Seedo Begins Pre-Order Deliveries, Names Ex-US Official To Board

Israeli cannabis auto-grow company Seedo has begun delivering its first pre-sale home-grow units to customers in California, the company announced this week.

Seedo developed a fully automated and controlled indoor growing machine, resemblant of a mini-fridge powered by algorithms, for pesticide-free agriculture markets, with a first focus on cannabis but with wider applications.

With its first deliveries, Seedo also launched a cloud-enabled mobile and desktop application, enabling remote monitoring and control of the growing process and technical support for customers.

The company also announced the recent addition of Dr. Jendayi Frazer, former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, to its Board of Directors, to help facilitate its expansion into markets in Africa.

Dr. Frazer is the President and CEO of 50 Ventures, LLC and Managing Partner of Africa Exchange Holdings Company. She was previously the director of Carnegie Mellon’s Center for International Policy and Innovation with a particular focus on utilizing technology and applying innovative solutions to core issues of development and governance in Africa.

Dr. Frazer said Seedo’s technology can offer “a fresh opportunity for Africa, where agricultural regions are suffering from the negative effects of rising temperatures and urban population growth.”

She added that she was “honored to be a part of Seedo’s mission to bring communities a convenient, low-cost way to grow pesticide-free herbs and vegetables regardless of local climate conditions and arable land constraints. The technology will support the continent’s agricultural productivity, food safety, and food security.”

Seedo CEO Zohar Levy said Dr. Frazer was “uniquely qualified” to help support Seedo. “We’re thrilled to welcome her as a board member and partner towards providing consistent and uniform agricultural products with improved shelf-life for communities in need of healthy and reliable food supplies.”

Founded in 2013, Seedo is headquartered in Haifa. In September, the startup raised $2 million from Cannabics Pharmaceuticals, a US-Israeli company that develops personalized cannabinoid medicine focused on cancer and its side effects.