GrowGeneration acquires Agron.io B2B integrated platform

Date:03-23-2021

GrowGeneration Corp., the nation's largest chain of specialty hydroponic and organic garden centers, announced its acquisition of Agron.io, a leading wholesale agriculture platform that allows commercial growers to manage their purchasing and logistics in one platform. Powered by proprietary enterprise resource planning (ERP) technology, Agron.io offers commercial pricing, real-time inventory, and one of the largest product catalogs in the industry, with over 10,000 products in over 60 categories, including greenhouses, vertical benching, controlled environmental systems, HVAC, and industrial equipment. The platform manages real-time product updates, tier-pricing changes, case quantities, pallet quantities, profit margin projections, hazmat fees, ETL/UL listings and state chemical regulations, as well as guarantees the latest shipping quotes using API generated pallet and box shipping rates. The Company expects Agron will contribute $20 million in revenue for GrowGen this year.

With this acquisition, Agron.io Powered by GrowGeneration continues to be a one-stop destination for GrowGeneration's growing roster of commercial clients across the U.S. GrowGeneration provides growers from retail and craft growers, to many of the nation's largest multi-state operators (MSOs) with everything they need to efficiently and sustainably grow cannabis indoors at scale, from greenhouses to lights, and from nutrients to equipment.

"As additional legal cannabis markets continue to open up across the country, we are expanding and enhancing our commercial services, from facility design and consulting to volume product pricing, to deliver best-in-class support for large growers," said Darren Lampert, GrowGen's CEO. "The Agron.io platform is a strategic and exciting addition to our portfolio and comes with a highly skilled team of customer service experts trained to help growers navigate the complexities of planning, growing and sustaining a commercial agriculture facility."

Launched in 2016 and based in Denver, Colorado, Agron.io's team of specialists have overseen more than 200 buildouts, managing every aspect from light layouts and photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) calculations, to vertical benching, irrigation and HVAC design, to fertigation and integrated pest management. They also provide financing options and manage administrative matters such as online purchasing history and order tracking.

"We developed Agron.io to provide next-level support for commercial growers, whose orders are extremely time-sensitive," said John Dreibelbis, Agron.io's CEO. "By joining forces with GrowGen, we can reach even more commercial growers with enhanced services, competitive pricing and drop-shipping from the nearest GrowGen distribution center."

Jeff Gordon, Co-Founder and CTO stated, "Agron.io was created to give commercial customers real-time data to manage their purchasing and logistics. Connecting our technology with the Grow Generation distribution network, and a world class team of commercial experts, we now have a platform that is a complete game changer for our evolving industry."

With the addition of Agron.io Powered by GrowGen for commercial accounts, GrowGen will continue to operate its e-commerce platform GrowGeneration.com for retail and craft cannabis and organic produce growers. The GrowGeneration.com site features online ordering of over 10,000 products, ranging from organic nutrients and soils to advanced lighting technology; enhanced order tracking; buy online pickup in store (BOPIS) capability; a virtual garden center with 16 product departments; and a GrowPro channel featuring educational and how-to content from grow specialists.

"Our acquisition of Agron.io is another example of GrowGen's customer-first approach," said Tony Sullivan, GrowGen's Chief Operating Officer. "With Agron.io Powered by GrowGen, we can provide a more technical, customized experience for our commercial customers, while GrowGeneration.com enables us to meet the needs of retail and craft growers looking for the best selection and prices."

The Agron.io acquisition is GrowGen's eighth this year and follows yet another quarter of record earnings. In January, the Company pre-announced fourth-quarter revenues of $61.5 million, bringing full-year 2020 revenue to $192 million, up 140% from 2019. Same-store sales increased 63% for full-year 2020, compared to the previous year. The Company also raised its 2021 revenue guidance to $335 million-$350 million and raised its 2021 adjusted EBITDA guidance to $38 million-$40 million. GrowGen plans to have 55 garden center locations by the end of 2021.

For more information about GrowGen, or to locate its stores, please visit www.growgeneration.com