Whatever Happened To ēdn Automated Indoor Gardens After Shark Tank Season 8?

Whether you're working on a vegetable garden or raising houseplants in your living room, tending to plants is one of the most rewarding and healthy hobbies you can have. That is if you can keep your plants alive and thriving! This relaxing hobby can easily make you feel stressed and disappointed when plants keep dying, especially if you are looking forward to enjoying fresh herbs and vegetables. That's why Ryan Woltz from Denver, Colorado created the ēdn garden, a smart technology-equipped garden that takes care of everything your plant needs, from watering to lighting and even plant food.

The ēdn automated indoor garden is perfect for growing fresh herbs and vegetables on your kitchen countertop, but can also support beautiful flowers and houseplants. The smart planter is compatible with an app that clues you in on your plants' growth and reminds you when it's time to refill the water reservoir. Woltz's ēdn "Gateway Garden" retailed for $99, while the larger size was listed at $499. The company sells seed pods for the perfect fit and offers an optional $12/month pod subscription. But was he able to get the green flag from any Sharks willing to grow his company? Here's what happened on "Shark Tank" and how ēdn blossomed after the episode.

Ryan Woltz strolled into the Shark Tank and explained that he was seeking $150,000 for 10% stake in his company. At that time, ēdn sold products direct-to-consumer but hoped to get the gardens into retail stores eventually. Woltz explained that ēdn is set apart not only by its design, but its unique "environmental data network" — the meaning behind the acronym, ēdn.

Robert Herjavec, Mark Cuban, and Chris Sacca were the first Sharks to declare themselves out on the deal. Kevin O'Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, stepped to the plate, offering $150,000 for 15% — a great deal that shocked the other judges. Lori Greiner jumped in before Woltz could formulate a response to the offer, and Greiner and O'Leary suddenly found themselves in a face-off over the investment opportunity. Greiner declared that she wanted 25% for her $150,000, so O'Leary decided to jump his offer up to 25% as well. "Lori poisoned your deal," said O'Leary.

Woltz had a decision to make. He tried to bargain with O'Leary, but he wasn't willing to budge on 25%. Feeling underappreciated because of Woltz's greater interest in O'Leary, Greiner suddenly declared herself out. In a surprising turn of events, Woltz elected to walk away empty-handed. "For the vision I want to create for this company, I know it's going to require additional capital," said Woltz, "[25%] just doesn't make sense for me right now from a valuation standpoint."

The Sharks agreed with each other that Ryan Woltz should have immediately accepted the deal with Kevin O'Leary at 15%, but Woltz said he just wanted to hear Lori Greiner's input. Everything moved so quickly that Woltz didn't have time to consider the offers before both deals turned sour. "If I could turn back the clock, I would have accepted his deal, but I can't do that, and he stuck with it. ” Woltz concluded at the end of his experience, "I respect that, and you know, lesson learned."

While he wasn't able to harvest a deal from any of the Sharks, Woltz raised about $1.535 million on his own by 2019. The ēdn garden continued to be successful, and Woltz was able to keep his company afloat and even launch new products like the Wallgarden mini. Eventually, he secured a position to sell the ēdn garden on Amazon and has been featured in several media outlets like The Today Show.

As far as we can tell, ēdn is currently still in business and selling the automatic indoor garden, but instead of offering two differently sized models, they now only sell the SmallGarden, priced at $199. Ēdn's company website is still up and running, with plenty of information about the garden and an online storefront that sells the SmallGarden, plant seedpods, and basic garden snips. You can also still find the ēdn SmallGarden system on Amazon. The product currently retails around $199, a comfortable middle ground between Woltz's original $499 and $99 garden designs.

In addition to the company website and Amazon storefront, ēdn also has social media pages, including Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter). However, their social media has been unusually quiet in recent times. There are no recent posts or announcements about closing the business, just a steep drop in activity. Normally, the company shared a new post at least once per week. Now, the social media pages have been mostly silent since the spring of 2022.

With the general lack of social media, it's difficult to say what ēdn's next big venture will be. Ryan Woltz was able to find success even after walking out of the Shark Tank, but it seems that the general design behind the SmallGarden hasn't changed much. Perhaps he will go on to design more models, colors, shapes, and sizes for the SmallGarden, helping him stick to his mission of bringing more greenery into homes around the world.

Having only just been founded in 2016, ēdn is still a relatively young company in the grand scheme of businesses. Even so, ēdn has experienced some phenomenal success under the leadership of Ryan Woltz, and the ēdn garden has been well-received by consumers, who love its sleek, stylish design, easy set-up, and nearly hands-free results. Some have suggested adding more features to the compatible HomeKit app, such as a viewable water level. Considering the success of ēdn so far, we think they could easily update their product in the future to make it even more "smart" and aesthetically appealing.