Rhubarb emerged from the desire for a simple, engaging gardening app. Inspired by the community aspect of fitness apps like Strava, it aims to provide a platform for gardeners to track progress, share experiences, and receive local professional support. It's more than a tool; it's a community to celebrate gardening milestones.
For centuries, gardening has been about more than just food. It’s been about resilience, connection, and the deep satisfaction of working with nature rather than against it. The joy of a first tomato, the wisdom passed from one grower to another, the local knowledge that makes each garden unique—these things cannot be replaced by technology alone.
Today, Rhubarb is not just an AI platform. It’s a movement. A community of growers, businesses, and experts working together, empowered by AI but rooted in human experience.
We started with smart pots that water themselves.
New to Australia, we quickly encountered the challenges of growing food in urban, rented flats. This led us to explore the evolution of self-watering pots—how a once hands-on task could become an effortless, adaptive system for modern, mobile lifestyles. As city living, travel, and busy schedules reshaped daily routines, we saw an opportunity to shift from manual care to intelligent, self-sustaining planters, bridging the gap between technology and nature for a new generation of growers.
Dozens of prototypes - input from hundreds of gardeners - what we heard flipped us upside down.
The key takeaway—it’s not just another gadget, planter, connected pot, hybrid seed, or predictive plant app. What we heard is this: it’s your neighbor who knows the seasonal pests, the local community that tells you when to switch to basil in April and why, the garden center that adapts its offerings to your unique climate and the latest flood response. It’s the mum next door who waters your tomatoes while you’re away, the street where shared harvests spark a lifelong love of growing, and the deep-rooted security of food resilience built on a thriving, connected gardening ecosystem.
Grassroots product development from 4 continents combining the worlds leading creatives, strategists and industry insiders.
The question to be answered is how tech and AI can act as our companions on the digital journey, empowering not just our future but also where we, as individuals, infuse humanity and soul into tech and AI. We are championing this transformative change where individuals are no longer viewed as mere data sources but are recognized as willing contributors to their information, trusting that it will be used for positive purposes. This shift emphasizes the collective benefit derived from shared knowledge and expertise. In this new paradigm, technology and data are tools that work for our benefit, reversing the dynamic where we used to serve the interests of the tech and media giants.
Techstars, beta, thousands of users in 25 countries and 34 states.
Chosen by Techstars, we refocused our efforts in the USA, tapping into San Diego’s thriving tech, innovation, and growing community. With engaged beta users and a dynamic ecosystem, it’s the ideal launchpad for growth, collaboration, and shaping the future of home food gardening.
Embracing the Paradox: Growing Food in the Age of AI.
At first glance, home gardening and AI seem like opposites—one deeply rooted in nature, the other driving a faster, more digital world. The act of growing food is primal, a grounding ritual that connects us to the earth, offering a reprieve from the relentless pace of technology. Yet, as founders of an AI-driven platform designed to help people grow more food at home, we’ve come to see this paradox as an opportunity rather than a contradiction.
Instead of resisting technology, we’ve leaned in—learning how AI can enhance, rather than replace, the human experience of gardening. Used thoughtfully, it becomes a tool for connection, insight, and empowerment. It can bring gardeners together in ways beyond simple keyword searches, offering hyper-local knowledge on what thrives where. It can transform devices from passive screens into active guides, offering conversational, intuitive support that feels less digital and more like a knowledgeable friend. AI isn't here to replace the magic of gardening—it’s here to make growing food at home smarter, more personal, and more rewarding.
And that’s where Rhubarb comes in.
