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PittMoss
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PittMoss has innovated the soil market by creating the top performing, most sustainable soils ever produced (As recognized by Better Homes and Gardens Rankings and Good Company Ventures).  The company is disrupting peat moss as the current standard in the soil industry. PittMoss is made from recyc ...led materials like paper and cardboard and grows bigger, healthier plants with significantly less water and fertilizer than peat-based soil. Show more

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This Reg CF offering is made available through PicMii Crowdfunding, LLC. This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment.

Business Description

A Platform Soil Technology Redefining Sustainable Agriculture Markets

PittMoss already makes the best soils on the market (as recognized by Better Homes and Gardens). The fact that all of the company’s soils are made from sustainably sourced, recycled products, help reduce carbon emissions and water use, and can be made locally and less expensively than alternatives are what really set this company apart…

The other major difference between PittMoss and other soil brands is that its patented technology can be used instead of peat moss by every other soil brand in the world. This means today’s competitors can become tomorrow’s customers!

PittMoss is made from recycled fibers specifically engineered to provide optimal management of applied resources, such as water and fertilizer. PittMoss’s proprietary process utilizes lignocellulose fiber from paper waste to provide solutions to both the soil treatment and manufactured soils industries. PittMoss technology transforms lignocellulosic fiber waste into a substrate that can be used for potting soil, agriculture, soil treatment and a host of other applications. It can be used alone or integrated with other substrates, ingredients, and nutrients to create a variety of products that service a host of related industries.

PittMoss is not only more sustainable than other products (As recognized by Good Company Ventures), but also outperforms competitors and provides numerous quantifiable benefits to growers. PittMoss increases the time between watering plants, and it also manages water more efficiently by allowing plants to take up water when needed. This is much better for the planet than the constant over-watering that is required with peat-, coir-, and wood fiber-based soils. PittMoss uses resources more efficiently by keeping water, fertilizer, and air available for plants as they need it, reducing labor and input costs for growers while producing better plants.

PittMoss absorbs and releases nutrients back into the root system to grow bigger and stronger plants in less time while reducing dependency on peat-based products. By the end of 2022, our PittMoss soil products prevented the emission of more than 15,000 metric tons of CO₂ and saved over 31 million gallons of fresh water.

What does a savings of 15,000 metric tons of CO₂ look like in other contexts? Here’s a few examples:

1. 2,012,680 miles driven by an average passenger vehicle
2. 893,732 pounds of coal burned
3. 91,269 gallons of gasoline consumed
4. 33,158 propane cylinders used
5. 276 tons of waste recycled instead of landfilled

Vision and Strategy

Locally made soils in every major US market that work better, are better for the planet, and are less expensive for growers!

Soil made from recycled materials in local markets is a truly disruptive idea because other alternatives are mined or harvested thousands of miles away and transportation costs alone (let along environmental costs) makes it a no-brainer to use this revolutionary product. Just as important, every other soil brand could use PittMoss as raw material instead of peat moss, coco coir and other materials.

Why mine peat in Canada and ship it halfway across the continent when it’s possible to make much better soils from local waste materials? PittMoss’s goal is to manufacture, at scale, an alternative to deleterious, unsustainable products such as peat moss while broadening our ability to serve larger soil treatment and agricultural projects. To do this, the company must build additional manufacturing sites to reduce cost structure and meet unit economic models.

PittMoss is in the business of recovering local waste products and upcycling them for resale within the same market, completing the circular economy. PittMoss utilizes patented technology to transform paper waste into a host of value-added products, from potting soil to animal bedding, and then distributes them into the same locales. Right now, PittMoss is replacing peat moss with locally sourced alternatives that provide better value and better performance while beneficially reusing what would otherwise be waste products. The ultimate vision of PittMoss is to bring sustainable substrate manufacturing to the United States and abroad. Currently, the US is the number one importer of peat moss. The PittMoss model delivers substrates manufactured using local waste while preserving peatlands and bringing a circular economy model to substrate manufacturing.

With a long history of R&D, patent development, and creation of revolutionary, protected formulas, PittMoss has recently entered the commercialization phase and is ready to leverage efficiencies to dramatically lower costs.

By reaching its fundraising goal, PittMoss plans to expand its sales, marketing, distribution, and production efforts across all product lines. Of particular importance is the development of new facilities in seven regions throughout the US – which will make PittMoss truly disruptive due to significantly lower logistical costs than competitive products.

Problem

The methods to grow plants should help the planet, not harm it.

Today’s soils do not work well, are harmful to the planet, and cost more than they should.

The current materials we use for manufactured soils simply don’t make sense—that is why the market is ripe for disruption. Peat moss extraction and carbon emissions are bad for the planet, but all of the transportation and logistics involved are also bad for growers’ pocketbooks. Shouldn’t we invest our time and money into locally made, higher-quality, more sustainable products instead? Especially if we can do so for less than the “old line industry” to which people are accustomed?

For generations, gardeners and growers have been using soils that are harmful to our planet. Formulated with peat moss, the average bag of potting soil has always been less than ideal for horticultural use. PittMoss has many advantages over any peat-based soil on the market today.

The world is currently facing two major sustainability issues: land waste and CO₂ emissions. 34% of landfills are filled with recyclable cellulose fiber materials, such as newsprint, magazines, cardboard, and other paper products. In addition, many seemingly environmentally friendly products, like peat-based potting soils, are producing massive CO₂ emissions as soon as they are dug from the ground.

Peat bogs make up less than 3% of terrestrial land mass but act as massive carbon sinks. They hold more carbon than all of the world’s forests combined, and reducing peat mining is one of the top 10 carbon emissions initiatives from the UN.

Utilizing soil crafted from recycled materials available in local markets represents a groundbreaking concept. This innovation stands out significantly when compared to other alternatives, which often involve extensive mining or harvesting processes in distant, fragile, and contested environments, like the Arctic. The high expense associated with transportation and the environmental toll of traditional materials mean the market is on the hunt for locally produced, sustainable growing media–a niche only satisfied by PittMoss. Equally noteworthy, PittMoss can serve as an advantageous source material for various soil brands, replacing conventional components such as peat moss and coco coir.

We need sustainable alternatives to peat-based soils, and oversight and regulation on peatland preservation is rising, quickly.

By 2030 the UK is enacting a full ban on peat use for consumer potting soil. https://www.lancswt.org.uk/news/uk-government-confirms-total-ban-all-peat-based-gardening-products-will-not-be-implemented
Global peat output is expected to continue to decline due to increasing regulation and environmental concerns. https://www.globaltrademag.com/the-european-peat-market-to-languish-due-to-new-eco-regulation/

Solution

PittMoss: Soil Technology That is Better for Plants, and the Planet

PittMoss manufactures patented soils that not only preserve peatlands and upcycle waste, but also grow big, beautiful plants with less water and fertilizer. Made from the lignocellulosic fiber material currently sent to landfills, the revolutionary properties created by PittMoss’s upcycled materials optimize air, water, and nutrient delivery to plants. This encourages faster, stronger root development and top growth, resulting in bigger, healthier plants with more and larger blooms. The unique fiber structure of PittMoss creates physical, biological, and chemical properties that other soils simply cannot replicate. The PittMoss fiber structure is the secret (and protected) ingredient that can’t be replicated by others, and PittMoss products are much cleaner (pesticide free and organic) than other soils.

Many growers, like most experienced professionals, are resistant to changing their ways away from products that they have been using for generations (like peat-based soils). To overcome any barriers to adoption, PittMoss has developed a migration strategy for growers to move gradually from 100% peat-based products to reduced peat blends, then finally all the way to using PittMoss-only products. More progressive growers make the leap quickly, while others need to take their time and slowly migrate. PittMoss has a solution for either approach.

Business Model

A Universal Ingredient, Multiple Brands, and an Unmatched Strategic Advantage

Not only does PittMoss offer the best branded soils on the market today, but their products can be the key ingredient for all other soil manufacturers to use instead of peat moss or coconut coir.

Currently, PittMoss sells to over 350 businesses across 4 countries, operating in three main channels. The PittMoss base product is used as a commoditized peat replacement. Commercial soils are sold to commercial growers that currently buy soil blends from other peat companies. Retail soils have a customer base that includes e-commerce direct-to-consumer and distribution through garden centers, hardware stores, and, in the future, big box stores.

The overall company customer portfolio ranges from large commercial growers to garden centers and large soil blenders. The company intends to grow its small sales team to further expand the company footprint. In 2022, the company marked its first year with over $1m in sales of our soil and animal bedding products.

PittMoss has a variety of wholesale and commercial customers in key markets. PittMoss is in over 150 stores nationwide, and it is available online at PittMoss.com, Amazon, and other online outlets. Furthermore, PittMoss has over 100 commercial accounts, including international cultivators. The company has also been selling via distributors and large substrate mixers, so the exact customer count is larger than that tracked by the company itself. PittMoss has customers that have been purchasing PittMoss soils for over 5 years. PittMoss has also been featured or cited in nationwide news outlets, appeared on Shark Tank with a successful raise, and is in current trials with major institutions and recognizable substrate manufacturers.

The company has been recording revenues since 2016 and has been increasing revenues on average by +40% year over year. All of the revenue so far has been generated out of the first prototype plant, located in Ambridge, PA. With regard to the market opportunity, PittMoss has just scratched the surface and currently faces demand that exceeds the company’s production capacity.

However, after securing the necessary capital to expand the company’s footprint and upgrade equipment to the proper scale, PittMoss’s strategic advantages grow exponentially. As the one and only producer of soil from completely recycled materials, PittMoss is able to localize manufacturing, slashing the cost of logistics and providing substrate solutions to industries across the globe. Moreover, PittMoss produces materials that are not damaging to the planet’s peatlands or forests. The hyper-local manufacturing and capabilities at scale of PittMoss dramatically reduce costs for growers and farmers, all while providing meaningful and quantifiable positive impacts on the environment.

Although the current pilot facility has proven PittMoss’s ability to make product at scale, newer, upgraded facilities provide significantly more efficiency.

Once new facilities are on-line along with the existing pilot facility, it will give PittMoss the ability to lower sales prices, dramatically reduce costs of goods sold (COGS), and dramatically improve gross margins while also dramatically increasing volumes and profit margins per facility.

Market Projection

A Massive Market – Ripe for Disruption

$68 Billion Total Addressable Market

The estimated manufactured retail soil market alone is $16 billion; however, the platform technology developed by PittMoss has products that service not only retail markets, but large commercial applications in soil treatment, bio-fertilizer delivery systems, animal husbandry, and more. The market valuation for soil treatment alone is estimated to be upwards of $60 billion. Furthermore, demand for soil is growing while the world’s arable land supply is dwindling. Solutions like PittMoss are needed, and quickly.

Competition

Planting the seed for a new kind of soil

PittMoss is disrupting the traditional peat-based soil market by offering a greener, more effective and truly sustainable solution to all growers. Not only is PittMoss better for the planet, it helps create stronger, healthier plants with significantly less water and fertilizer. In fact, independent growth trials demonstrated using time-lapse photography that PittMoss plants actually grow bigger every week compared to plants in competing soil blends.

Traction & Customers

Secure Intellectual Property

First patent issued with second and third approved by the patent office to be issued in the coming months.

PittMoss has a multi-tiered strategy to protect its intellectual property, strategically segmented by patents, trademarks, and trade secrets. PittMoss’s portfolio includes patents for our soil products and utility patents covering process to product. PittMoss has been allowed filing for a recent (2022) process patent for their animal bedding technology. In addition to foundational IP and live patent families, a key facet of the company’s intellectual property is the guard protection of trade secrets. PittMoss trade secrets include product formulation and well over a decade of research into the many variables that make PittMoss products successful. This includes ingredients, feed stock ratios, equipment modifications, and more. PittMoss has established a trade secret policy analogous to that of companies like Abbott, Nike, etc., safeguarding trade secrets through secure internal catalogs, as well as non-centralized aggregation of process and methodology.

There has been precedent of PittMoss process obscurity and complexity effectively inhibiting imitation products by competitors. PittMoss has been approached by a large fertilizer conglomerate that attempted to produce a product like PittMoss in the past, but was unsuccessful. Their inability to replicate PittMoss’s success has garnered many active discussions that leverage the company’s position and strength of IP.

To date, PittMoss has focused on distribution into Independent Garden Centers (IGCs), hardware stores, small growers and distributors, and some medium growers and soil mixers. The company has focused on the customers above the dotted line in the pyramid illustrated in the figure below. This approach was preferred because the company didn’t have the capacity to fulfill the needs of larger customers, even though several have successfully trialed the company’s products. Additional capacity and regional facilities will allow the company to more actively approach some of the largest customers in the industry (i.e., those represented at the base of the pyramid and the top of the sales funnel in the aforementioned figure). Even so, the company is in the process of (or has completed) trials with many more customers than it is currently selling to due to capacity constraints.

Investors

Current Fundraise:
The company has actively engaged with an investment bank to secure a $15M Series A funding round. To date, the investment bank has identified two potential lead candidates and several potential syndication partners to fill the round.

Assuming the company can close the Series A round, the following pro-forma financials demonstrate the projections related to opening SEVEN new facilities with the proceeds of the round. This should allow the company to open 3-10 new facilities each year which are to be self-funded thereafter.

As shown in the pro-forma financial statements, the company should be profitable as quickly as the earnings drag from new facilities are mitigated through growth.

PicMii investors will be investing in a SAFE agreement at a 15% discount to the Series A round. The company anticipates that this will be the last opportunity for non-institutional investors to invest in the company.

PittMoss LLC has conducted the following offerings in the past:

Year: 2015-2016
Exemption: Regulation D Offering
Final Amount Sold: $2.52M

Year: 2017-2018
Exemption: Regulation D Offering
Final Amount Sold: $3.25M

Year: 2020
Exemption: Regulation CF Offering
Final Amount Sold: $241,849.85

Year: 2021
Exemption: Regulation CF Offering
Final Amount Sold: $491,066.77

Year: 2022 – Present
Exemption: Regulation D Offering
Final Amount Sold: $1.095M

Year: March 2023 – April 2023
Exemption: Regulation CF Offering
Final Amount Sold: $275,000

Terms

Up to $325,000 in Crowd Simple Agreements for Future Equity (Crowd SAFE) with a minimum target amount of $10,000. The SAFE is part of a “bridge round” prior to closing their Series A.

Offering Minimum: $10,000 | 10,000 Securities
Offering Maximum: $325,000 | 325,000 Securities
Type of Security: Crowd Simple Agreement for Future Equity (Crowd SAFE).
Offering Deadline: April 28, 2024
Minimum Investment Amount (Per Investor): $500

Bonus:

Loyalty Discount: Investors who have previously invested in PittMoss through an earlier offering will receive an additional 2.5% discount added to the 15% discount of the Crowd SAFE.

Early Bird Discount: Investors who invest prior to January 1st, 2024 will receive an additional 2.5% discount added to the 15% discount of the Crowd SAFE.

*Should both conditions apply, both discounts will apply for a Crowd SAFE with a 20% discount.

Equity Financing: Company shall promptly notify the Investor of the closing of the First Equity Financing and of the Company’s discretionary decision to either (1) continue the term of this Crowd SAFE without converting the Purchase Amount to Equity Interests; or (2) issue to the Investor a number of units of the CF Shadow Series, of Equity Interests (whether Preferred Securities or another classes issued by the Company), as applicable, sold in the First Equity Financing. The number of units of the CF Shadow Series of such Equity Interests shall equal the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the Purchase Amount by (y) the applicable Conversion Price (such applicable Conversion Price, the First Equity Financing Price).

Liquidity Event: If there is a Liquidity Event before the termination of this instrument and before any Equity Financing, the Investor must select, at its option, within thirty (30) days of notice (whether actual or constructive), either (1) to receive a cash payment equal to the Purchase Amount or (2) to receive from the Company a number of units of Common Securities equal to the Purchase Amount divided by the Liquidity Price.

The Minimum Individual Purchase Amount accepted under this Regulation CF Offering is $500. The Company must reach its Target Offering Amount of $10,000 by April 28, 2024 (the “Offering Deadline”). Unless the Company raises at least the Target Offering Amount of $10,000 under the Regulation CF offering by the Offering Deadline, no securities will be sold in this Offering, investment commitments will be cancelled, and committed funds will be returned.

Risks

Please be sure to read and review the Offering Statement. A crowdfunding investment involves risk. You should not invest any funds in this offering unless you can afford to lose your entire investment.

In making an investment decision, investors must rely on their examination of the issuer and the terms of the offering, including the merits and risks involved. These securities have not been recommended or approved by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not pass upon the merits of any securities offered or the terms of the offering, nor does it pass upon the accuracy or completeness of any offering document or literature.

These securities are offered under an exemption from registration; however, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has not made an independent determination that these securities are exempt from registration.

Neither PicMii Crowdfunding nor any of its directors, officers, employees, representatives, affiliates, or agents shall have any liability whatsoever arising from any error or incompleteness of fact or opinion in, or lack of care in the preparation or publication of, the materials and communication herein or the terms or valuation of any securities offering.

The information contained herein includes forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which are, in some cases, beyond the company’s control and which could, and likely will materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects the current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties, and assumptions relating to operations, results of operations, growth strategy, and liquidity. No obligation exists to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

Security Type:

SAFE

Discount Rate

15%

Post Money Valuation:

N/A

Investment Bonuses!

Loyalty Discount: Investors who have previously invested in PittMoss through an earlier offering will receive an additional 2.5% discount added to the 15% discount of the Crowd SAFE.

Early Bird Discount: Investors who invest prior to January 1st, 2024 will receive an additional 2.5% discount added to the 15% discount of the Crowd SAFE.

*Should both conditions apply, both discounts will apply for a Crowd SAFE with a 20% discount.

Regulatory Exemption:

Regulation Crowdfunding – Section 4(a)(6)

Deadline:

April 28, 2024

Minimum Investment Amount:

$500

Target Offering Range:

$10,000-$325,000

*If the sum of the investment commitments does not equal or exceed the minimum offering amount at the offering deadline, no securities will be sold and investment commitments will be cancelled returned to investors.


Brian Scott
President, CEO
BackgroundBrian Scott is a seasoned business executive and angel investor, having built and grown several other multi-unit businesses. Mr. Scott earned his BA in History from the Pennsylvania State University and MS in Software Engineering from Gannon University. At RentWay Inc, where Mr. Scott served as CIO and Director of M&A, he helped take the company public on the NASDAQ exchange and later moved to the NYSE. He helped grow the company from 13 locations generating $7M in annual sales to 1,200+ locations and almost $700M in annual sales before exiting the company to start his own multi-unit RTO and shortterm lending business. While at RentWay, Mr. Scott built an IT team of 75 people, built, and led acquisition audit and transition teams, and was intimately involved with strategic decision making among every function within the company. RentWay was recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of the “100 Fastest Growing Companies in America” on four different occasions in a seven-year period and Mr. Scott constructed many of the project plans and built many of the teams that drove that growth. Throughout his career Mr. Scott led a total of seven company startups or turnarounds including both for-profit and non-profit enterprises. He notably turned around the Flagship Niagara League (non-profit supporting the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Flagship) and started the Tall Ships Erie festival, which continues to be the largest fundraising event in Northwest Pennsylvania. As a thirteen-year Angel Investor, Mr. Scott has screened more than 5,000 companies, and conducted due diligence or led due diligence teams on dozens of startups. He has invested in more than 40 startups during his angel investing tenure and believes that PittMoss has the best opportunity for disruption than any of the other companies he has screened.

Robert Phillips
V.P. Sales
BackgroundRobert “Rob” Phillips has joined PittMoss as Vice-President of Sales. Robert has 30 years’ of outstanding experience related to Growing Media categories. He held several key positions with milestone achievements during his 21 plus years with Scotts Miracle-Gro. Robert is confident that the Growing Media space is ready for new innovation not seen in the past few decades. A surge of growth came upon the industry with the introduction of Coco Coir and the opportunity is present to bring PittMoss with its tremendous water holding capacity to the trade. His focus will be placed on three channels with prior experience (lawn & garden retail, commercial growers, wholesale packagers) and expectations are to grow substantially with compounded annual growth at a minimum of 75% 2024 through 2026. Market share is expected to be gained from a combination of category growth and taking share within that growth due to an end user trade-up strategy. Expansion into the West in all channels is expected in the key Sustainable and Organic Demographic Marketing Areas.

Ashley Mariani
Manager of Business Development
BackgroundWith over 10 years of startup management experience, Ashley Mariani is passionate about her role in growing PittMoss. While receiving her MBA and MA in Mass Communications and Journalism, Ashley began her career at the Mayor’s Office for the City of Pittsburgh and then joined a fast-growing SaaS-based software startup, Industry Weapon (acquired by Spectrio). While overseeing their marketing department, Ashley was introduced to PittMoss in 2016 and joined to help launch e-commerce and marketing functions. The role quickly grew, and Ashley is involved in many aspects of the business – supervising marketing, assisting with sales strategy, and reporting, process improvement and development to software implementation, employee onboarding, factory tours, community engagement, garden club presentations and more. As the Director of Business Development, Ashley takes her broad experience and leadership skills wherever she is needed to help grow the business.

Dr. Charles Bethke
Manager of Research & Development
BackgroundDr. Charles Bethke has had an interest in soils since conducting his first soil research in his father’s Greenhouse in western Michigan. With this interest, Dr. Bethke attended Michigan State University served as a student teaching assistant while receiving his bachelor’s degree in soil science. He went on to the University of Missouri and received a master’s degree focusing on soil fertility and nutrient buffering. Dr. Bethke returned to the family farm that focused on Greenhouse production and vegetable farming. During that time, he conducted a radio show on gardening. After about five years he attended Michigan State University and obtained a doctorate in plant physiology, as well as coordinated the research Greenhouse facility with over 70 researchers. Dr. Bethke then became technical director for Michigan Peat Company, the largest peat company in the United States and he served as research granting coordinator for the Bedding Plant Foundation. After 13 years, Dr. Bethke became a consultant serving Companies and Growers in the greenhouse and growing substrates industry. In 2014, he began working with PittMoss LLC as the technical director working on formulation of growing substrates. The work was performed with a focus on environmental stewardship, recycling products and sustainable materials. Currently his focus is highly dedicated to regenerative agriculture and wise use of resources. He won’t admit it himself, but Dr.Bethke is highly regarded as one of the top 5 soil scientists in his field.

Amber Miles
Contractor General Counsel
BackgroundAmber Miles has 20+ years of experience leading the finance departments for companies of all sizes and across various industries. She has an MBA, is a PA attorney and is passionate about helping companies grow and prosper. She began her own firm, Finacctic to help entrepreneurs and business leaders achieve their dreams by providing value-add accounting and finance services critical to managing, analyzing, and growing a business. Amber has been with PittMoss for over six years, as our contract CFO and General Counsel.

Richard Powell
VP Production
BackgroundThe most recent member to join the team, Rich Powell brings over 30 years of experience in process improvement spanning several industries, beginning as a lean application specialist for WESCO distribution to Plant Manager for PH Tech Organization. Rich earned his B.S. in Industrial Management along with his M.B.A and holds a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification. Rich will oversee the growth of PittMoss’ production capabilities and bring his strong track record of organizational management to build out our ever-growing production teams.

Mont Handley
Board of Directors
BackgroundMont Handley is the inventor and founder of PittMoss. He is currently serving as Associate Director of the Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center at Purdue University Northwest in the Chicago region, assisting other business owners and entrepreneurs explore advanced and automated manufacturing options.

Dave Lilly
Board of Directors
BackgroundDave Lilly is currently on the board of directors for PittMoss, and was previously the Director of Operations at RentWay and the COO of Express Cash Advance. He has 25 years of operations experience in acquisitions, new store openings, and executive management roles.

Carl Nicolia
Board of Directors
BackgroundCarl Nicolia is the current President at PSNergy LLC, a BlueTree Investment Fund and CrytoAgents investor and formerly the President of Zurn and Vice President at Rexnord. Carl brings a wealth of experience in manufacturing technology.

Catherine Mott
Advisory Board
BackgroundCatherine is a BlueTree VC Co-founder, as well as the managing partner and is the managing partner, founder and CEO of BlueTree Venture Fund. Catherine is also the Founder of BlueTree Allied Angles and BlueTree Capital Group. Catherine and BlueTree were the among the earliest investors into PittMoss.

Dane Blake
Advisory Board
BackgroundDaniel Blake is the CEO and Founder of EcoScraps, which was acquired by Scott’s Miracle Gro, and is currently the Executive Director of University Impact and CEO of UI Charitable Advisors.

Jim Olin
Advisory Board
BackgroundJim Olin is currently the Chief Commercial Officer at Verséa Health and is the former President and CEO of Coast of Maine and Director and Operating Partner at Tom’s of Maine. Jim is a tenured brand specialist with a history in sustainable products and soil.

Company Name

PittMoss

Location

2603 Duss Ave
Ambridge, Pennsylvania 15003

Number of Employees

8

Incorporation Type

LLC

State of Incorporation

DELAWARE

Date Founded

March 8, 2021

PittMoss Lands at BWI – Two Seasons of Beauty!

Greenstreet Growers goes SUSTAINABLE and PEAT-FREE, growing its entire fall violas and pansies crop in PittMoss (See more) PM4 for its customers, including its installation at BWI Baltimore Washington International Airport.

With Greenstreet Growers planting the violas and pansies in the fall, these plants “hibernate” and grow out in the spring – achieving two seasons of BEAUTY!

Swing by BWI and see a magnificent burst of color display. It is BEAUTIFUL and BREATH-TAKING!

Our compliments to Ray Greenstreet, his team, and the landscape crew at BWI!
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Peat-Free Pioneer, PittMoss, Celebrates Earth Day 2025 with Expanded Environmental Impact
American-made, Upcycled, Peat-Free Soil Reduces CO2 Emissions for a Healthier Planet

In recognizing Earth Day 2025, (See more) Ambridge, PA-based PittMoss is proud to announce a range of significant environmental achievements regarding the use of its American-made, peat-free potting mixes and soils, which demonstrate the company’s commitment to sustainability and pioneered the use of upcycled materials in growing healthier plants for a healthy planet.

Over the recent years, PittMoss has made a substantial impact on protecting the environment – avoiding 20,026 metric tons of CO2 and 270 kilograms of N2O, while preventing 1,691 tons of paper and 3,596 tons of cardboard from ending up in landfills. Additionally, PittMoss has reduced the need for more than 40 million gallons of water when compared to traditional peat-based soils.

To put PittMoss’s environmental accomplishments into perspective, the 20,026 metric tons of CO2 emissions reduced is equivalent to several notable benchmarks, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalences website calculator based on emissions:

• 50M miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle
• 22M pounds of coal burned
• 1.6B smartphones charged
• 1.7M trash bags of waste recycled

“PittMoss, made right here in Ambridge, PA, pioneered the peat-free movement and is committed to producing the best performing, peat-free potting soils and mixes on the market, resulting in not only healthier plants and vegetables, but a healthier planet,” said Brian Scott, CEO, PittMoss. “We are proud to partner with our commercial grower customers and garden centers across the country as they strive to beautify and protect their communities.”

Annually, PittMoss acknowledges and rewards each of its commercial grower customers and garden center partners for their commitment to environmental sustainability based on their purchases and use of PittMoss with an "Environmental Savings Certificate," reflecting their individual impact in reducing CO2 emissions.

Made from upcycled paper products, nutrient-rich PittMoss organic-certified soils are the cleanest on the market – free of PFAS, herbicides and pesticides, heavy metals, weed seeds and insect larvae, and its use can reduce water usage by up to two-thirds.

Over the recent years, Better Homes & Gardens has ranked PittMoss’s Plentiful the “#1 Best Overall Potting Soil,” for use in planting and growing indoor and outdoor plants, and Country Living magazine has named PittMoss’s Plentiful Garden Potting Soil the “Best Peat Moss-free Soil.”

About PittMoss - http://www.pittmoss.com

Founded in 2015 in Ambridge, PA, PittMoss’s portfolio of patented products made from organic, recycled paper reduce runoff through enhanced nutrient absorption and superior moisture wicking. Its carbon-rich, living soil environment helps achieve superior root development – producing bigger, healthier plants with less water and fertilizer than competitors.


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PittMoss Achieves Best Sales Month in Company History by 18.3%
Upcycled, Peat-Free Soil Provides Sustainable Supply Chain for Growers and Consumers Alike

PittMoss, the sustainable soil innovator (See more) revolutionizing the gardening industry, announced a record-breaking 18.3% sales increase for March 2025 compared to the previous best sales month of March 2022. The 18.3% increase marks the best sales month in company history.

The sales demand reflects growing consumer and commercial interest in PittMoss’s proprietary line of eco-friendly potting mixes and soils, engineered from upcycled paper products, such as cardboard and newspaper. It also reflects the desire for commercial growers, garden centers and consumers to safeguard their supply chain to ensure they have the best material to grow the healthiest plants and vegetables during the upcoming planting and growing season.

By eliminating the use of environmentally destructive peat moss, PittMoss provides a cleaner, high-performing alternative, which promotes healthy plant growth while dramatically reducing environmental impact.

“This milestone proves what our customers already know: PittMoss works better for plants, people, and the planet,” said Brian Scott, CEO, PittMoss. “More growers and gardeners are prioritizing sustainable, American-made products to secure their supply chain, and PittMoss is delivering the proven, trusted solutions.”

PittMoss soils are certified organic and among the cleanest on the market and are free of PFAS, pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, and weed seeds. They retain water more efficiently than traditional mixes, helping reduce water usage by up to two-thirds.

The company’s innovation and quality have earned national recognition, including top ratings from Better Homes & Gardens and Country Living magazines for both indoor and outdoor gardening. In 2024, PittMoss was also named one of the “Most Fundable Companies” by Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School.

For more information or to invest in the best-performing, planet-friendly soils on the market, visit https://wefunder.com/pittmoss.
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Dear PittMoss Investors,

Please see the press release below announcing our strategic partnership with Greenstreet Growers.

Best regards,

Brian P. Scott, CEO

PittMoss, LLC

🌿🌿🌿

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: (See more)

Brian Scott, CEO, 814-636-7274, Brian@pittmoss.com

Brian Tedeschi, 412-638-5981, brian.pittmoss@gmail.com



PITTMOSS AND GREENSTREET GROWERS FORGE EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT

TO ADVANCE SUSTAINABLE GROWING PRACTICES

AMBRIDGE, PA – March 4, 2025 – PittMoss, the industry leader in sustainable, peat-free growing media, has entered into a three-year exclusive agreement with Greenstreet Growers, one of the top growers in the United States, to supply its high-performance growing media for use in Greenstreet Growers’ greenhouses and retail garden centers. The agreement, expected to include 15-20 truckloads annually, represents a commitment of up to $750,000 over the next three years, according to Brian Scott, CEO, PittMoss.

As part of the partnership, Greenstreet Growers owner Ray Greenstreet will serve as an advisor to PittMoss, assisting with product development, conducting independent trials, and contributing to research initiatives. He will also share his findings through social media and other industry platforms, further demonstrating the effectiveness of PittMoss products in commercial growing environments.

“We are thrilled to be working with Ray, one of the top growers in the country, to expand the reach and impact of our best-in-class growing products,” said Scott. “His expertise and commitment to sustainable growing align perfectly with our mission to revolutionize the industry by providing superior alternatives to traditional peat-based media.”

Greenstreet Growers will be integrating PittMoss products into his greenhouse operations while also offering the company’s retail line to customers at his garden centers. With a focus on sustainability, Ray sees this partnership as a crucial step toward a peat-free future.

“It’s an honor to collaborate with a company as cutting-edge and sustainability focused as PittMoss,” said Greenstreet. “I truly believe this is the future of the industry. PittMoss products not only outperform traditional media, but they also represent a major leap forward in reducing our environmental impact.”

By combining PittMoss’ innovative technology with Greenstreet Growers’ expertise in plant cultivation, this partnership is poised to set a new standard in the horticulture industry – delivering superior results while promoting sustainable, responsible growing practices.

For more information about PIttMoss and how you can stock its high-performance products, visit http://www.pittmoss.com.

Please visit wefunder.com/pittmoss for more information about how you can support a healthy planet and health plants.

🌿🌿🌿

About PittMoss - http://www.pittmoss.com

Made from organic, recycled paper, PittMoss’ range of products are manufactured in the United States, supporting green manufacturing. All of the paper and cardboard components are obtained from local companies, recycling facilities and the community, which is then hand sorted at the PittMoss production and R&D facility in Ambridge, PA, before being fiberized by its custom machinery. Founded in 2015, PittMoss’ portfolio of patented products reduce runoff through enhanced nutrient absorption and superior moisture wicking. Its carbon-rich, living soil environment helps achieve superior root development – producing bigger, healthier plants with less water and fertilizer than competitors.

About Greenstreet Growers – http://www.growgreenstreet.com

Greenstreet Growers is a leading greenhouse and garden center operation dedicated to growing high-quality plants with innovative and sustainable practices. With a strong commitment to environmental responsibility, Greenstreet Growers continuously seeks out cutting-edge solutions to enhance growing performance and reduce environmental impact.
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Dear PittMoss Investors,

We hope that you had a happy and healthy 2024 and are looking forward to a prosperous new year. Last year was a (See more) challenging year for the horticulture industry (down 5% for the year) and our company did not avoid some of those challenges. But there are also a lot of bright spots to share with you for our year-end update.

Overview

In 2024, we were once again named the Best Overall Potting Soil by Better Homes and Gardens and were also named one of the "Most Fundable Companies in America" by Pepperdine University. It was quite an honor being selected as Pepperdine annually gets about 2,500 applications for the award. To our knowledge, we are the only Western PA company to have ever been named - and Pepperdine goes through an incredibly rigorous due diligence process. It is important to note how bullish the judges were about our long-term opportunities for the company and the reasons for their positive outlook. Some of the items of note include:

1. Recognizing our ability to disrupt the peat-based horticulture industry with industry-leading products and recognition.
2. Understanding that our longer-term plan of regional facilities eliminates the massive logistical costs in the industry today (importing peat and coco-coir from abroad).
3. Recognizing that, we have made it this far with a small pilot facility in Pittsburgh, to prove concept and market acceptance.
4. Understanding that unit economics improve dramatically with upgrading from a pilot facility to a production facility.
5. Seeing tailwinds that support our company growth including the peat-free movement, carbon reduction, water savings, potential tariffs, interest in "onshoring", clean tech manufacturing, as well as other benefits.

We were also able to secure the three largest orders in company history in 2024. These orders went to much larger growers and soil mixers than we had approached previously. With a limited sales staff and ad budget, we shifted gears to sell to more large, commercial customers than in the past and de-emphasized chasing smaller wholesale/retail orders. Longer term, we believe selling our PittMoss base material and commercial products will be our biggest growth areas - while also providing the opportunity to sell our base material to many other retail brands on the market as a peat substitute.

We also had strong interest from big-box stores including Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, Menards, and others. But our limited production capacity is a hurdle in selling these national retailers at this time. We are currently exploring a partnership with Central Pet and Garden to white label a PittMoss blend for entry into Wal-Mart through their "Pennington Seeds" brand.

Financial Overview:

You may recall that we entered the year with a limited budget and a focus on finding a Series A lead partner. We knew that 2024 would be a tight year in terms of what we could spend on sales and marketing along with a challenging market to raise money. In fact, we limited our advertising expense almost exclusively to trade shows and a tiny “in-season” budget. It is a testament to our team that we were able to generate almost the same revenue as the previous year while spending significantly less money on marketing and other P&L items. And we were able to do so despite several equipment breakdowns that led to lost sales. We missed about $200k in sales for orders we could not fill in time.

As of the end of the third quarter, we were up slightly on revenue (about 5% on the year) despite the industry being down 5% and despite encountering some internal equipment breakdowns. (See previous Q3 Update). Unfortunately, the equipment issues continued into the fourth quarter and negatively impacted on the final quarter and our full year. In total, we experienced 10 weeks of equipment downtime this year - which is about 1/5 of our calendar year. As a result, our overall revenue was slightly down compared to the previous year with several orders being pushed into the new year.

Here is a financial overview for the year (see attached financial statements):

- Revenue: $786k compared to $793k a year ago
- Total expenses of $1.5M compared to $1.74M a year ago.
~Areas of reduced spending included “controllable” expenses like:
Payroll
Plant Expense
Occupancy
Office Expense
Travel & Ent
Customer Development/Selling Expense
Advertising
Accounting
R&D
Insurance
Fundraising
Depreciation Expense
Many of the reduced expenditures were related to pursuing larger commercial customers and reducing focus on smaller wholesale customers.
~Areas of increased spending included a lot of the “non-controllable” expenses including:
Reserves for past due Accounts Receivables
Lease increases
Other contractors’ cost
License, permits, and business taxes.
Interest expense
Net income: ($1.249M) compared to ($1.390M) a year ago.

Future Forward:

The transformational opportunity for the company remains with sourcing growth capital to upgrade our pilot facility into a production facility, which dramatically reduces COGS and improves production volumes. New equipment is necessary to effectuate this transition.

Coincidentally, we may have another tailwind serving in our favor: the implementation of tariffs will dramatically increase the peat (Canada) prices, driving up the prices of competitive products in the market.

Series A Fundraise:

Most investors know that it has been an incredibly challenging market for Series A funding for everything but AI companies. Although it appears that funding may loosen up in 2025, the market has been incredibly restricted in the last two years.

Regardless, we have been fortunate to have attracted a well-respected potential Series A lead. This firm is a well-recognized VC in the Ag Tech space, and they are currently raising their next fund. We have some indications that they may be close to finalizing their newest fund and can begin making investments in Q2 2025.

In addition, we continue to reach out to new potential leads and syndication partners and have found much more interest compared to a year ago. It certainly feels like the funding market is beginning to loosen a bit.

Other Fundraising:

Because our market historically is a “ship first and pay after receipt,” we typically have a cash constraint early in the year. As a result, we continue to work on our “bridge round” to keep us moving forward – especially as the season is approaching.

Because we have continued to secure larger customers, it has become more critical to plan and structure manufacturing for stockpiling and moving timely deliveries.

Overall State of the Company:

Although it has been a challenging couple of years for both the investment market and the lawn and garden industry (which peaked during COVID), we have continued to grow our “long-term” customer segment with our commercial products.

Knowing that our goal is ultimately to disrupt peat and ideally sell our raw material to our competitors rather than compete with them, we continue to move in that direction. This is evidenced by our 32.1% growth rate in our commercial channel – and that is where we expect most of our long-term growth.

New equipment is critical to our next step as a company. It will allow us to reduce our COGS by 30% and more than quadruple our output. In fact, new equipment will allow us to reduce our selling price by about $.15 per cubic foot while reducing our COGS by more than $1.00 per cubic foot, pushing our gross margins up to over 50% (see attached pitch deck).

The company has made tremendous strides in past years despite the challenges:

- We helped to create the “peat free” movement and have growing customer traction with more than $5M in lifetime sales.
- Saw peat prices continue to increase almost annually as our costs have remained stable.
- We have received many awards and recognition for our products from Better Homes and Gardens, Forestry.com, Country Living, Pepperdine University, and many others.
- We’ve demonstrated some amazing positive environmental impacts, including helping to reduce carbon emissions by more than 19k metric tons, reducing water use by more than 39 million gallons, and recycling more than 5,000 tons of paper and cardboard.

Next Steps:

We have proven our manufacturing concept and have proven our product/market fit. The next step for the company is to close on our Series A to update our Pittsburgh location from a Pilot to a Production facility and then open a second, west coast facility. After that, we should be able to self-fund the opening of one new facility annually with our own cash flow.

How You Can Help:

There are three areas where we could use help from our investors today:

1. Talk about our products to your friends and family and spread the word about how we are improving the horticulture industry and improving our planet.
2. Buy our products at your local garden center or on-line http://www.pittmoss.com
3. Ask for Pittmoss at your local retailer who doesn’t carry us today.
4. Introduce us to Ag Tech funders you may know.
5. Consider an additional investment to help us extend our runway and have more capital available for sales and marketing as the growing season approaches.

Please know that we are eternally grateful to our investors that have continued to support us through this “funding desert” facilitating our continued growth.

Thank You!

Brian P. Scott

President/CEO

PittMoss, LLC
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PittMoss Recognized at Pepperdine's Most Fundable Companies Event

Dear PittMoss Investors:

I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for believing in our company, (See more) our team, and the amazing, transformative products we make.

Many of you have been with us from the beginning, and over many years your support has been unwavering. Our entire team is so grateful for this support. It has often kept us going during difficult times.

We have also encountered more rejection than you could imagine, from plenty of investors who performed a cursory level of due diligence, may have been critical of our historical growth rates, or just didn't like "product companies."

With you and because of your continued support, our team has been able to continue to advance the company.

I'm pleased to tell you we were just named one of the "Most Fundable Companies in America" by Pepperdine University and its panel of judges. It is an amazingly challenging process, and we achieved the designation over more than 2,300 other companies that applied.

It helps reinforce what we – and you – all already know. We have a disruptive technology, which is urgently needed to transform the entire horticulture industry. We just need more fuel to take our company nationwide.

So what did Pepperdine judges see that all of those other investors missed? The answer to me is so easy. Pepperdine took us through a much more rigorous process than most angel groups and even VCs perform in most cases. They asked, they challenged, and they listened to our answers and explanations...and it all made sense to them.

An analogy I use is we make the best cookies in America today, but we're making them on an Easy-Bake Oven. As soon as we can make them in a production-scale. commercial kitchen, we'll really be "cooking.” If someone is looking backwards at our results from using an Easy-Bake Oven, of course it's not going to represent what we can do once we have a commercial kitchen.

Our Series A round will allow us to upgrade our current pilot facility, dramatically reduce our COGS, and produce our products in EIGHT regional facilities, eliminating the logistical costs all of our peat-based competitors need to contend with.

Again we thank you for your support to date and we ask that you continue to share our story with those funders who can recognize the opportunity and support our next stage of growth. Once we make this next step, we will have the opportunity to disrupt an entire industry... and you all will have helped us to do it.

Thank you.
Brian P. Scott
CEO
PittMoss, LLC
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PittMoss Financial Update - Results through June 2024

Dear PittMoss investors,

Summary:
To date, the company has been able to generate good growth despite managing cash tightly and (See more) dramatically reducing most of our expense categories.
We have had a number of positive customer success stories including converting one of the largest growers on the East Coast to one of our completely peat free blends. We believe this is the largest grower in the US to begin selling peat-free plants at such a large volume.

Although cash has been a constraint for us this year, we believe that with more operating capital and investment in sales and marketing, we think we could grow at a much higher rate. Additionally, we know we need equipment and efficiency upgrades to move closer to profitability and we hope to accomplish that with our Series A fundraise. Based upon our projected COGS and shipping reductions post-funding, we believe the company could be profitable today with the upgraded equipment and regional distribution. We also have received a $500k debt commitment from a current investor that we believe we will close in September and continue to offer convertible notes to new and existing investors to help us extend the company runway.

Finally, the company has recently been recognized as a semi-finalist for Pepperdine University’s “Most Fundable Companies” contest and believe that we will have the opportunity to present to a whole host of West Coast investors during the third quarter.

Financial Update:
On the financial front, year to date through June, we have generated about 5% growth compared to a year ago. Total expenses were down significantly from a year ago as we specifically focused on trimming payroll, advertising, selling expense, travel, occupancy, and R&D costs.

For the year, through June, we have also had slightly higher COGS and lower gross profit percentage. This was due mainly to product mix as we sold considerably more commercial products this year than our wholesale (bagged products) as the company focuses on fewer, larger customers while limiting advertising and sales expenses. See detailed financial information below.

With limited operating capital we have been careful to manage cash while still growing the business by making some of these choices. We believe that with additional operating capital, we could invest more in sales and marketing and grow at a faster rate.

Funding Update:
Although we expected to have a term sheet by now from our potential lead investor, they lost a large investor and have not closed on their fund yet. Unfortunately, we remain in wait mode until they close their round and provide us with a term sheet. In addition to our lead, we have interest from several other potential syndication partners that are just waiting for a term sheet from a lead investor.

In addition, we have several new investment banks interested in representing the company for the Series A round and we are interviewing these companies now.
In terms of other funding, we have been recognized as a semifinalist for Pepperdine’s “Most Fundable Companies” and are awaiting word on several other non-dilutive funding opportunities. We recently received $81k from the PA KIZ program and have been invited to apply for a low-cost loan program with the Department of Energy (DOE).
We continue to extend our runway by offering convertible notes to new and existing investors and have received a $500k commitment from a current investor for a long term debt agreement, which we hope to close this month.

Other business updates:
• We continue to have strong interest from multiple potential license partners, including one of the largest farming families in the US, one of the largest soil manufacturers in the EU (interested in potentially licensing all of Europe), and one of the largest poultry companies in the US. All are very early, but two of the three have already visited the factory and expressed continued interest in developing a licensing relationship.
• We delivered our largest customer to date, GreenStreet Growers, and believe that we will capture all of their business for next year, which would be about 30-40 truckloads ($300k-$400k in revenue). Even more exciting, we believe that this is the largest grower in the US that is committed to going PEAT FREE with their commercial growing media.
• We have had strong interest from multiple big box companies to at least list with their on-line platforms and potentially begin some in-store tests. All of these potential partners would like us to present new bag designs, sizes and pricing for the 2025 season. We should know more during Q3.
• We continue to have a really large number of potentially much larger sales opportunities throughout the country, but specifically on the west coast and in the southeast. With these larger customers, volume and distance is our biggest challenge until we can upgrade Pittsburgh and open new facilities.
• So far, in Q3 (through August) we have continued with 7.5% growth rate, while continuing to manage expenses very closely.

Financial Summary

Year to date:
• Revenues: $489k vs $463k a year ago – 5.5% growth
• COGS: $363k vs $296k a year ago
• Gross profit: $125k vs $166k a year ago
• Gross Profit %: 25.6% vs 35.9% a year ago
• Total expenses: $790k vs $1.1M a year ago
• Net Operating Income: ($665k) vs ($934k) a year ago
• Net Shipping Income: ($16.9k) vs ($1.7k) a year ago
• GAAP Gross Margin: 19.6% vs 29.9% a year ago

Balance Sheet (as of June 30, 2024):

Cash: $100 vs $318k a year ago
Receivables: $222k vs $189k a year ago
Runway – approximately six months runway based upon current burn rate, customer payments, KIZ funding, and committed debt funding.

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PittMoss would like to thank Ray Greenstreet of Greenstreet Growers for providing another great and informative video from his greenhouse on how he planted the (See more) fall pansy and viola crops in 100% sustainable, peat-free PittMoss.

Check out his Instagram post here - https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-_fdU5OneV/?igsh=MWx5eGJwamJ2Nmd1Nw==

*Better Homes & Gardens voted PittMoss Plentiful Organic Potting Soil their #1 top pick for BEST overall potting soil and Performance for BEST peat-free soil in 2022, 2023 and 2024!

To learn more about PittMoss sustainable, peat-free products, visit out website at http://www.pittmoss.com
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Thank you for investing in PittMoss and joining our community of investors who are concerned about the products they use in their gardens and who (See more) have a deep love of not only health plants, but a healthy planet!
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Garden Gurus Unveil The Best And Worst Soil Brands For Flourishing Foliage... and PittMoss Made the BEST List!
Check out the link to the full article (See more) here: https://www.modernhomelife.com/.../garden-gurus.../...
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Raises half the minimum amount

PittMoss has raised half of the target offering amount on February 28, 2025. $31,500 has been raised at this time.

Raises 100% of the minimum amount

PittMoss has raised the target offering amount on February 28, 2025. $31,500 has been raised at this time.Investors should be aware that the Issuer can now conduct rolling closes if they wish. If the Issuer decides to do so, you will be notified and given time to cancel your investment.
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