The Competitive Edge: CO2 GRO Inc.

Q: What was the reason for founding your organization – what was the open niche you saw that could be addressed with a new product or service? What was the problem, or gap, or opportunity?

Our company was founded in 2012 to sharply enhance algae growth by completely dissolving CO2 gas into water versus competitors micro-bubbling CO2. At the time, the retail global algae biofuel market size was potentially $5B-$500B.

Oil prices crashed in 2014 along with algae biofuel stocks post shale oil technology breakthrough, so CO2 GRO pivoted to enhancing the growth of value plants. Most greenhouses cannot economically use CO2 gas due to heat venting or porous buildings.

Since our technology uses an aqueous CO2 solution to deliver CO2 to plants versus gassing CO2 in the air, the opportunity for applying our technology includes indoor, greenhouses and potentially outdoor growers.

Q: Tell us about your organization. What do you do?

CO2 GRO Inc.’s mission is to accelerate the growth of all value plants safely, effectively and profitably using our patented advanced CO2 Delivery Solutions^TM. While the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere is increasing, its abundance in relationship to other gasses is still very small ~0.04%.  This often makes CO2 a limiting factor in plant growth as only 1 in 2500 gas molecules entering a plant is a CO2 molecule available for use in the photosynthetic process.

CO2 Delivery Solutions completely dissolves CO2 gas into water creating an aqueous CO2 solution. The CO2 solution is targeted directly on to the plant’s leaves by misting micro droplets to create an aqueous film around the entire leaf surface. This film isolates the leaf from the atmosphere with an aqueous solution that is 80-100% saturated with CO2.  This makes 8 to 10 out of 10 gas molecules entering the plant a CO2 molecule available for use in photosynthesis. More carbon is now available for the roots and shoots to grow, increasing yield and profits.    

CO2 Delivery Solutions can be easily integrated into existing greenhouse irrigation booms or other misting equipment that can apply the aqueous CO2 solution to the plant canopy. On average, we have demonstrated up to 30% faster plant growth, up to 30% increase in biomass, greater root development, increases in metabolites such as cannabinoids in cannabis, as well as reducing the spread of single cell micro pathogens such as E. coli and Powdery Mildew.

Q: What stage of development are you?

Early Commercial stage.

Q: What do your technologies, products or services do and accomplish – how does it (they) work, who is it (they) aimed for?

We have demonstrated that our technology creates a microenvironment that allows CO2 to diffuse across the entire leaf surface.  This allows more CO2 to be temporarily stored in the spongey mesophyll tissues for use in photosynthesis.  Typically, the rate of photosynthesis increases significantly measured both by increases in Chlorophyll A and carbohydrates (sugars).  The increase in carbohydrates provide more fuel for the plant’s metabolic activities.  This enhanced metabolism generally results in significant increases in growth rates and better plant health.

An additional benefit to our technology is a phenomenon we call “Perimeter Protection”.  By adding CO2 to water the pH is lowered.  The microenvironment surrounding the leaf created by our aqueous film then initially has a slightly acidic pH.  As CO2 is transferred from the aqueous microenvironment to the leaf, the pH increases to neutral or mildly basic. The aqueous film is established around the leaf multiple times per hour. This means the microenvironment within the aqueous film and on the leaf’s surface is unstable with regards to pH.  This environmental instability makes it very difficult for micro pathogens such as bacteria and fungi to establish themselves and grow.  In our research we have seen greatly diminished establishment and growth of E. coli and other bacteria, as well as, fungi like Powdery Mildew and other wilts and molds.

CO2 Delivery Solutions is aimed at all value plant growers everywhere. Our game-changing technology enables all indoor, outdoor and greenhouse growers everywhere to realize the benefits of supplementing their plants with more CO2 resulting in more value and profits from their operation. Our initial focus is the global greenhouse market with over 50 billion square feet of cultivation space. We are also developing a cost efficient method for misting the aqueous CO2 solution to outdoor crops which are grown on over 4.6 billion acres globally.  

Q: Competitively, what gives your technology, product or service set an edge in cost or performance, sustainability, or any other aspect, that makes it stand out from the crowd, In short, what makes it transformative?

Our technology is the first major change in delivery of CO2 to plant growers in over 100 years. Currently over 85% of greenhouses cannot economically use CO2 gassing due to heat ventilation requirements that result in most of the CO2 gas escaping the greenhouse into the atmosphere. CO2 gassing outdoors into the atmosphere is also not feasible. Misting our aqueous CO2 solution directly on to plant leaves enables crops grown both indoor and outdoor to receive supplemental CO2.

We are able to match or exceed the growth enhancement achieved in greenhouses using atmospheric CO2 enhancement techniques, typically called CO2 gassing.  However, we can achieve these results in almost any growth environment (e.g. non-sealed greenhouses, shade houses, multi-tiered structures, outdoors etc.) and our technology’s efficiency allows these benefits to be realized with a fraction of the CO2 required for atmospheric enhancement.  

We are patent protected and are broadening our suite of filed provisional patents in areas such as pathogen resistance, metabolite optimization using multiple dissolved gases, and novel delivery methods outdoors including other dissolved gases.

Q: What are some of the top milestones you have accomplished in the past 3 years?

1. Raised $2.5M to move the business plan forward and strengthened both our staff and Board with Ag experts.
2. Generated our first revenue in March 2019.
3. Filed five more patents in 2019 YTD as we continue to discover scientific breakthroughs using dissolved CO2 and other gases for enhancing plant growth and quality naturally.

Q: What are some of the top milestones you will accomplish in the next 3 years?

1. Broaden our sales team and Ag Industrial partners to cover five continents.
2. Complete the development of our outdoor misting method.
3. Generate sufficient revenue and other metrics to list NASDAQ.

Q. Where can I learn more about CO2 GRO Inc.?

Click here to visit CO2 GRO Inc.’s website.