Bees and farmers make a natural combination. A new startup launching out of Ann Arbor aims to make it profitable one for all involved.
HiveLend is developing a web-platform that connects local farmers with hobbyists beekeepers with a matching algorithm. The idea is to connect the two groups to help better pollinate crops while putting some extra cash into the pockets of beekeepers.
This sort of transaction isn't a new one. There are commercial beekeepers who own hundreds if not thousands of hives. Each growing season they sell the placement of those hives to commercial farmers. Prices for a bee hive range from $60-$80 per hive in Michigan to $150-$200 per hive for almond farms in California. HiveLend's founder, Nicholas Zajciw, is a hobbyist beekeeper who wanted to work a similar deal on a small scale with local farmers.
"I realized there was no tool for that online and (making that match between farmer and beekeeper) required a lot of research," Zajciw says.
He launched HiveLend shortly after realizing that earlier this year. The three-person HiveLend team is developing the early versions of the platform now with a public launch date set for July. HiveLend recently won
Ann Arbor SPARK's Boot Camp, a crash course in business building that helps entrepreneurs quickly and effectively validates and better focus their business idea.
HiveLend will initially focus on connecting hobbyist beekeepers and local farmers in Michigan this year. Zajciw expects a growing season of working with small customers will enable them to perfect the platform for use by commercial users later on. It's also the easy path for HiveLend to follow for now.
"I have a good network I have built with beekeepers in Michigan," Zajciw says.
Source: Nicholas Zajciw, founder of HiveLend
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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