In this episode of Add to Cart, we dive into the world of tech-driven plant care with Jared Carlin and James Shamim, the founders of Plant With Willow. What started as a solution to a common household problem - keeping plants alive - has grown into a thriving business with a global reach. From a successful Kickstarter campaign to a strategic partnership with Bunnings, Jared and James share the innovative journey of Plant With Willow, a startup that combines hardware, software, and a passion for plants. The pair discuss how Plant With Willow went from idea to landing in households all over the world, how they struck up a strategic partnership with Bunnings that goes beyond just stocking their product and the power of customer feedback in building a successful piece of tech.

Links from the episode:

Plant With Willow

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Questions answered:

• With over 51 million sensor readings collected, what surprising or unexpected insights have you discovered about plant care?
• Who is your typical customer today, and how has your target audience evolved since you first launched?
• Can you tell us the story behind your retail partnership with Bunnings?

About your guests:

Jared Carlin from Plant With Willow

Jared Carlin is a co-founder of Plant with Willow. An innovator by nature, Jared has over 12 years experience in product innovation, leading the identification, incubation and commercialisation of new products and services aligned to strategic innovation focus areas. Jared grew up in Western Australia’s southwest region and is a graduate of Curtin University in Perth.

You can contact Jared at LinkedIn

James Shamim from Plant With Willow

James is a co-founder of Willow and has a background in business development, commercial, finance and operations across public, private, government and startup. He ventured into tech in 2016 and, prior to co-founding Willow, was part of a Deloitte Fast 50 tech winner. He’s Willow’s English Aussie and a savvy generalist across all business areas.

You can contact James at

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