Vinder

In the modern age, grocery stores source fruits and vegetables from all over the globe. Unsurprisingly, our produce just isn't as fresh anymore. The solution? Vinder.

We allow users to easily buy the freshest produce possible by connecting home gardeners to their neighbors through an online marketplace. Gardeners post their produce, then neighborhood buyers purchase and handle the pickup and delivery. We take a 20% service fee from the buyer, keeping gardener costs low to encourage a market full of diverse, interesting, local produce.

Vinder Creates Value for Both Buyer and Gardener

For home gardeners, using Vinder is a no-brainer.  Instead of just enjoying the fruits of their labors themselves -- or worse, letting excess fruits and veggies go to waste -- they now have an easy-to-use marketplace where buyers are actively  clamoring for the same produce they'd be growing anyway.  We encourage a diverse set of crops by not taking a service fee, encouraging home gardeners to connect to as many of their neighbors as possible.  Now that they can sell on Vinder, many of our gardeners have even said they plan on increasing their garden sizes.

Our buyers are generally between 25 and 45 and work full time.  They are people who prefer organic produce but might not have the money or time to source that produce.  Instead, they use Vinder, sacrificing a small 20% service fee to eat food they know was grown in their neighborhood.  Rather than supporting huge grocery store conglomerates, they get to support their neighbors while eating fresher food.  It's a winning relationship for our users, which we know because right now, we have more buyers than growers.

We've Grown to 90 Cities Organically

We started out of Port Townsend, Washington. Our founder, Sam, went from one small order to delivering more than 300 pounds of produce on his bike in just three months. In 2017, we were still focusing on our one location with our beta testing, but users around the country just started using our marketplace. Without an ounce of marketing, we grew to over 90 cities in 19 states in 4 months

Now, with some momentum, we're launching an app on August 21 that will make it even easier to interact with our online marketplace. We're imagining a future where Vinder becomes the largest homemade grocery distributor in the country. By relying on communities and neighbors and not requiring any inventory or delivery vehicles, we can help create a more sustainable food ecosystem.

Let's Connect Our Neighbors Together

Dear Investors,

Wow! Thank you for considering an investment in Vinder! We couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to help communities take back and rebuild our broken food system and are thrilled that you are considering joining our community. Before you get into the offering material, there are a couple things we want to mention.

Grass Roots

Vinder is not a conventional company and we don’t intend to become one.

I started Vinder on foot and bicycle after attending a Chamber of Commerce meeting in Port Townsend, WA. I learned that there was a problem accessing local, organic produce for a reasonable price. I walked home and noticed all the apple trees with rotting apples on the ground and thought, “Why can’t we just buy from our neighbors?" So, I began knocking on doors and asking to sell their extra produce. Over 3 months, I hand-delivered over 300 lbs of produce between community members and formed relationships with neighbors I had never known while learning about the importance of soil nutrients, growing methods, and that there are so many awesome, delicious varieties of produce beyond what you see at the grocery store. Like atomic grape cherry tomatoes, glass gem corn, or pineberries (white strawberries that taste like pineapple).

Vinder wasn’t created to change the world and make a ton of money. It was created to fix the problem my community was having. It worked because community members joined together to create a local food system where neighbors feed neighbors. When we launched the online marketplace, we found that the problem wasn’t just in Port Townsend, but across the nation and world. There were people wanting to stand up and make a change.

We work in the gardens with our Growers, join community garden work days, and host potlucks with our communities. Everything is designed and built around and for our community members.

Most of this offering material describes Vinder in conventional business terms. In fact, the whole purpose of this document is to provide information for you to evaluate our company and make an informed investment decision. But there are elements of Vinder that defy convention, and we want to take a moment to explain them.

The Dirt - Risk vs. Reward. Before you invest, it’s important to understand that Vinder is a very early stage company. In fact, thanks to the JOBS Act, you now have the opportunity to invest earlier than has ever been possible, at a stage traditionally reserved for angel investors and venture capitalists.

If you want to get in early, you need to understand the risks. As an early stage company, we don’t yet have established customers or revenue streams, and we have very little operating history for you to review. Startups are an inherently risky investment — statistically speaking, most of them fail.

But those that succeed often go on to change the world. Every great company — from Airbnb to REI — started with entrepreneurs and investors who had the courage to defy the odds and try something no one else had done before. We believe Vinder is one of those companies.

As a rule, you should never invest more than you can bear to lose in a startup company. But if you’ve got a little extra and want to swing for the fences, we’d love for you to join us. We’re betting our money, reputations, and careers that we can make this company a success.

Sprouting the Future

No longer can we think of the farmer as some guy on a tractor plowing acres of farmland. The farmers of today, and of the future, grow their food in shipping containers, on rooftops, in empty lots in the inner cities, and in their own backyards. Innovation in local, organic agricultural production has sky-rocketed, yet, the distribution system has hardly changed. Vinder is connecting these agro-innovators and hobbyists with their community members. Creating a local feel for what will be a global scale.

We know it won’t be easy, but things worth doing rarely are. While we can’t guarantee the company will be successful (nobody can promise that), we can guarantee that we’ll do everything in our power to make this the best investment you’ve ever made.

THANK YOU for considering Vinder. If you like what you see and dig what we are doing, we would love for you to join our community.

Sincerely,

Sam Lillie

Co-founder/CEO, Vinder

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