AVA Byte: Smart, Simple, Sustainable Indoor Garden

Wed Apr 1 '20 Announcement
almost 6 years ago – Wed, Apr 01, 2020 at 09:38:16 AM

Dear AVA Food Futurists,

First and foremost, we hope that all of you are staying healthy and safe. The world around us has changed vastly since our last update two weeks ago. 

COVID-19 is a global undertaking and we must all come together to follow safe practices and recommendations of the health authorities and governments to flatten the curve. At AVA, our team is practicing social distancing and doing our part to minimize the spread of the virus. As such, the last two weeks have been an adjustment as we transition to remote work but we are grateful for our team being flexible. We are doing our best to adapt and get you growing! 

Production Update

1) A huge shoutout to our CTO and our engineering team who worked something close to a miracle to get the bug we mentioned fixed over the last two weeks! This means Bytes can be finalized (yes, finally!).

2) To combat COVID-19 from delaying shipping further, we’ve taken over the final steps of manufacturing and packaging from our manufacturer. We hope that this will help reduce their workload and increase the number of Bytes we can ship. As such, AVA HQ has been transformed into an assembly line and we picked up 80 devices from our manufacturer yesterday. For the first 80 units, we have resumed our schedule and will start shipping throughout the first and second week of April! 

COVID-19 Impact

Beyond the first 80 units, we’re evaluating every day with our manufacturers to ensure the safety of their workers, and figure out how to work around their reduced workforce and increased need for the medical devices they also manufacture. We will update on further shipping dates as soon as we have more clarity. We are doing everything we can to support them and get Bytes out their door, through ours and to you!

We’re also in contact with delivery services to understand how COVID19 may impact shipping timelines. We recommend as a precaution that upon receipt of your device, wipe down the box and device with a cloth and sanitizer. 

Your Safety is Our Priority

Our office environment is closely monitored, workspaces are frequently cleaned and sanitized. The four workers (including the two of us) building the Bytes were quarantined for 14 days to ensure there were no symptoms.  We frequently wash our hands and practice social distancing to minimize our contact with others both in and outside the office. The rest of the team is working from home as part of this plan. 

Shipping Schedule (US and Canada Backers)

International Backers

For international backers that have asked for updates, we hear you and are working on finalizing this for you to provide more clarity. Please look for an email from us in the next few days directly.

Questions or Concerns?

If you have concerns about your delivery or would like to update shipping instructions and addresses due to COVID-19, please contact [email protected] as soon as possible. 

In the meantime, we are carefully monitoring the situation and adjusting our workflow based on the daily challenges COVID-19 is creating. We’ll keep you closely posted every step of the way.

Let’s Grow,

Val & Chase

Fri Mar 13 '20 Announcement
about 6 years ago – Fri, Mar 13, 2020 at 02:32:19 PM

Hi AVA Futurists,

Apologies for the delay in getting this posted but it has been a crazy week, both at AVA Technologies and for the world. We hope that the next few weeks brings better news globally and that you and your loved ones are staying healthy and safe. In the meantime, we have some updates to share regarding your AVA Byte. It is a long one!

We now have 100+ units assembled and the part we've all been waiting on has been tested. As mentioned in the Facebook post for those of you who are in the group, we found a bug that needs to be fixed before the devices can get shipped out. However, we are working around the clock (literally, our CTO and engineering team have been pulling some all-nighters) to get this bug worked out asap and are just ensuring that the bug can be fixed through a software update before we package them up and send them off to you!

We will be shipping out devices as they come through and are constantly monitoring the potential impacts of the news around COVID-19 on our working capacity but are doing everything we can to get all units assembled, boxed and sent out by April 15th.  

On a more exciting front, below is a break-down of the order in which backers will receive their smart gardens based on what our manufacturer has shared with us. A few numbers appear twice as those Backers ordered 2 devices but we will do our best to ensure both ship out together. While it looks like a lot, there are actually only about 400 devices going out the door so don’t worry if you are backer 1090! Many orders in between are for pod packs, accessories etc. 

Backer Contribution #

1-67

68-129

130-187

187-278

278-355

356-416

417-554

555-658

659-798

799-985

986-1079

1080-1090

In your initial shipment, you will receive your AVA Byte and a complimentary pod pack. The complimentary pod pack is a Basil Starter Kit that includes 4 varieties of Basil - Red Rubin x 2, Elidia, Genovese, and Prospera. 

We are currently working on getting out the other pod packs that you each individually chose and will be sending those out just in time for your next growing cycle. As a heads up, the stickers that go on top of the pods to prevent the seeds from falling out during shipping are not 100% up to our standard, as you may or may not notice when you receive the Basil Starter Pack. We're currently working on switching sticker suppliers but wanted to make sure you can get growing with your first pod pack as this should not significantly affect your overall growing experience.

We have spent so much time and effort trying to ensure that every single touch-point you have with your Byte is as effortless as possible, and are open to feedback with the aim of continuously improving your gardening experience with us.

While the accessories are still in development, we will honour your backing when they are finalized. Getting you your Byte has taken our blood, sweat and tears but we are excited to be at the point where we can begin properly testing these. 

If you ordered anything extra through BackerKit, we have not charged your card and will not do so until we are ready to fulfill those requests. That includes any additional pod packs or devices you ordered. 

Two last main points: 

1. If you are a backer outside the US and Canada, we sent out an email separately back in August and September of last year. If you never received this, please send an email to [email protected] or message us directly. 
2. IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR ORDER, including your address, PLEASE DO SO BEFORE MARCH 20TH. Sorry for the caps but we want to make sure that you are getting exactly what you want! 

As always, we are here to answer any questions or concerns that you may have at [email protected].

Let’s grow,

Chase & Val

Sat Feb 29 '20 Announcement
about 6 years ago – Sat, Feb 29, 2020 at 10:21:07 PM

Dear AVA Futurists,

Another short but sweet update to round out the shortest month of the year. We are starting to see some signs of spring here in Vancouver and are itching to get growing. We hope that by the end of this month more of you can get growing too!

The biggest news to share is we have the part! We got it this week and the team is finalizing inspections. So far so good but we will be sending out another update Friday to let you know if there is anything else that will affect the timeline. 

Now that we have the part, we can continue with Byte assembly! We are working with our manufacturer to get as many Bytes finalized and shipped out by the end of this month. The delay in the part altered the assembly schedule but we are pushing for all of them! We will have a better picture by Friday when we send another update. 

Thank you for your continued patience with our journey and we cannot wait to get you growing. 

As always, we are here to answer any questions or concerns that you may have at [email protected].

Let’s grow,

Chase & Val

Fri Feb 14 '20 Announcement
about 6 years ago – Fri, Feb 14, 2020 at 07:50:56 PM

Dear AVA Futurists,

A short but sweet update because we have good news! The phantom part is phantom no more.

We expect it to be released by Feb 25th. It should be in our hands by the end of next week, but with the long weekend here in BC, there may be a day or so delay. We are budgeting for that just in case.

Upon its release, we will be inspecting the component to ensure it is as agreed upon. Once we have finished the inspection, we will send out another update to let you know if there is anything else that will affect the timeline. We will also need to push a firmware update to each individual Byte before completing the assembly of the bytes. 

Since Bytes are pre-assembled and waiting for this part, we should be able to ship out devices in March! As mentioned above, we will send out an update upon part inspection completion and the usual end of the month update. Thank you for your continued patience and we cannot wait to get you growing. ?

As always, we are here to answer any questions or concerns that you may have at [email protected].

Let’s grow,

Chase & Val

Fri Jan 31 '20 Announcement
about 6 years ago – Fri, Jan 31, 2020 at 11:25:08 PM

Dear AVA Futurists,

We had a heart to heart in our last update and we want to continue with that moving forward. We know there is always a reason why shipping is delayed and that we send an update to say next month every month. It hurts every single time we announce delays and trust us, it is the last thing we want to do each month. We know that it is equally frustrating for you to be on the receiving end of our updates but we are trying to change that! 

We have 400 units waiting for one remaining part. We have sent our proposal for negotiation and should find out by next week if they accept it or not. At that point, we will issue another update on a more clear timeline. We were hoping to hear back before issuing this update but we are still waiting. 

We are assembling Bytes so that the moment the component is released, we are ready to finalize the assembly of your backer units. Upon the component release, we will need to push a firmware update to each Byte before completing the assembly of the bytes. 

These next few lines are not easy ones for us to write but we are trying to learn from our timelines in the past and set a more realistic deadline for shipping. The component release could be next week or it could be in a month from now. The updates could go smoothly or we could find a major bug in the new component that needs fixing. Hardware is hard and filled with uncertainty. We are doing absolutely everything we can to prepare for the component release and decrease the risk of potential issues arising to get you your Byte as soon as possible. The moment we have a clear picture, we will share the news. We know this is not the news you want to hear and we are doing absolutely everything we can every day to get you growing!

We wanted nothing more than to start 2020 off on a different note than 2019, and we still see 2020 as a year of growth. Thank you for your patience and for being a part of our journey. 

As always, we are here to answer any questions or concerns that you may have at [email protected].

Let’s grow,

Chase & Val

If you’re interested in a refund:

We’re here for refunds. Our promise to you is that when our product is available and you still want our smart garden, we will be happy to honour your original backer price. So, you get your money back now, and when we are ready to go, we’ll email you with a coupon code and the link. Click here to arrange for a refund. Please note that it may take between 5 to 15 business days to be processed.