In 2020, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) graduates Mohamed Hamdi (BA 2019), Tamim Al-Asfar (BA 2019), and Julian Sam (CS 2019) came together with an idea: to make choosing, buying and caring for plants in Qatar a smooth and seamless process. Today their startup, Greenit, is delivering plants all over Qatar, and helping new and seasoned gardeners alike to make their spaces more green.
CMU-Q is a Qatar Foundation partner university.
Can you start by telling us a little bit about your project?
Hamdi: Sure! Greenit is an app we created that is all about plants and flowers in Qatar. You can buy plants, flowers, pots, everything related to gardening and green things. It’s unique because in Qatar, there’s not one place where you can buy what you need, have it delivered, and also learn everything you need to know to care for the plants.
I think the Qatar climate feels like a barrier for some people when they want to buy plants. How do you grow things in a desert?
Hamdi: Many people do not know how to take care of plants in the desert. They are scared of killing the plants. We’re trying to bridge that. We have tools for the hardcore gardeners, but we are also trying to make it easy for people to get their first plant.
How do you introduce new gardeners to growing plants in Doha?
Hamdi: Our app has a lot of information like sun requirements, humidity, the type of soil to use. Plus, we are building a watering reminder feature with a database of average watering frequencies for certain plants, and then we give the user the freedom to adapt the schedule. So once you order the plant, the average watering schedule is automatically added to your app and you receive a notification: ‘Hey, water your plant!’
That’s very cool—it’s a guide to all things green in Doha.
Julian: We have another cool feature, where we use machine learning so you can identify plants. You can take a picture of a plant and it will tell you what it is, and if it is available in Qatar right now. If it’s not, you can request it and when it is available, you will get a notification.
How did you come up with the idea, and how did you build your team?
Hamdi: When we were in the first COVID lockdown phase, I was at home a lot and wanted to get a plant but didn’t know where to start. I didn’t know what’s an easy plant to care for, where to get it delivered from, and how can I care for it. Right then, the idea hit me, why can’t I be the one to provide the answers to all these questions. I think having plants around you affects your psychology, it makes your mood a lot better.
I knew I needed people with different expertise if I wanted to do a tech startup, so I approached Tamim and Julian and the team clicked. I found the perfect fit.
Tamim, why did you get involved?
Tamim: When Hamdi approached me, I saw a great potential. I think there is a gap in the market. I think the new generation, especially Qataris, are becoming more aware of the importance of making Qatar greener. The country itself has a vision of planting one million trees by the World Cup 2022, and ten million by 2030. Qatar set a world record last year for the most nationalities planting trees at the same time. There were people from 66 countries who participated.
So people here are really starting to understand the importance of making your spaces greener, and I think our company can really make a difference in that area.
What about you, Julian? You are the only team member with a computer science background.
Julian: Initially Hamdi just asked me what I thought about the idea, you know, from a technical side. Then he asked, how feasible would it be to build this in one month? I was working full time, so initially I did the work in small batches. I found I was missing the freedom and flexibility of working for a startup, so I am now working on GreenIt full time.
That’s a big decision to work on the startup full time.
Julian: I think the farther we went building GreenIt, the more we realized how much potential there is in Qatar. I feel like this company could be a leader for this paradigm shift as Qatar becomes greener.
Is the app working now? Are you doing business?
Hamdi: Yes, we are on the app store and we are taking orders. We are working with nurseries and vendors around Doha, and we have our own delivery truck. And of course we are working to expand the features on the app so people can have more information about the plants they are caring for.
I think it’s great that this is an all-CMU-Q team.
Julian: So even the engineers we hired were CMU-Q students. It’s pretty cool because I think a lot of people try to outsource the work, but we did it in-house, and put all our love and all our passion into it. And I think it shows.
You can find GreenIt on the App Store or Google Play. Learn more at www.greenit.qa.