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Contributed Content: Aquager Turns Home Hydroponics into Furniture
- Bob Benenson
- Aug 26
- 4 min read
Chicago Start-Up Promotes Indoor Growing That Doubles as Decor
Aquager is a Chicago startup turning kitchen counters and living rooms into reliable produce aisles — using hydroponic farms designed as beautiful furniture, not flimsy gadgets.
I met founder/CEO Jiří Zeman, a Chicago resident and native of Czechia, when he attended the August 13 Green City Market tour that I organized for Local Food Forum and Naturally Chicago. I was immediately intrigued by his concept and offered him the opportunity to write an article detailing Aquager, which follows.
Aquager is solely responsible for the product descriptions in this article.
From Chicago Apartments to Year-Round Harvests
by Jiří Zeman, Aquager Technologies
With two distinct products, Aquager makes growing food possible for everyone. The Grab & Grow Kit is created for people who love the idea of fresh produce but have killed every basil plant they’ve ever bought. The Hydroponic Home Farm is designed for advanced users who want to produce large, steady quantities of herbs, vegetables, fruits and flowers.
The goal is bold and simple: make fresh, healthy, organic produce a right — not a privilege.
TWO PATHS TO FRESH PRODUCE
Aquager understands that not all home growers start at the same place. That’s why the company created two products.
The Grab & Grow Kit is the simplest on-ramp to hydroponics. It comes with pre-seeded grow mediums, a reusable nursery and compostable materials, making it nearly impossible to fail.
Customers see quick wins with microgreens that sprout in days, while still having the satisfaction of growing herbs and small plants with minimal effort. It is designed specifically for people who want fresh greens at home but don’t have the time, space or skill to keep traditional plants alive.
The stackable Hydroponic Home Farm is a larger, more advanced system for those who want to go further. It produces steady quantities of herbs, vegetables, fruits and flowers, replacing weekly store runs with a reliable, year-round harvest.
Designed as furniture, not a gadget, it blends into living rooms and kitchens while quietly delivering continuous produce that supports real grocery independence.
Together, these two products open the door for every type of household — whether someone wants a small, fail-proof start or a full farm that provides family-scale harvests.
BETTER FOOD AT LOWER COST
The problem we aim to address: retail groceries that cost more and deliver less.
Chicago knows food. From corner markets to chef-driven restaurants, the city takes eating seriously. Yet for many households, the grocery run has become a gamble: Will the produce be fresh? Will prices climb again? How much will end up going bad before it’s used?
Meanwhile, a wave of “countertop grow kits” promised a fix but ended up in closets. They looked like appliances, felt like chores, and failed to earn a place in people’s homes.
Aquager saw the gap and reversed the approach. If home farms looked and felt like furniture — solid, warm and worthy of display — families would use them daily. We design farms, not gadgets. When something belongs in your home, you actually use it.
FURNITURE FIRST, SUSTAINABILITY ALWAYS
At mHUB, Chicago’s innovation center for physical product development, Aquager refines its philosophy: A farm should be engineered for function but designed for presence.
The Home Farm uses wood construction for beauty and warmth, while plastic is reserved only for essential food-safe parts such as LED housings, water tanks and surfaces in contact with water. This blend results in a system that feels like part of the home environment.
Components are chosen with sustainability in mind — reusable where possible, compostable when disposable, and sourced from sustainable materials. The design invites use, and that regular use turns into dependable harvests.
HOW IT WORKS AT HOME
Daily life with an Aquager system is simple. The farm’s compact footprint allows it to slide into a kitchen, a living room corner or a dining space. Users place the nursery, add water and watch plants grow under tuned LED lights.
Microgreens are ready almost immediately, while herbs, vegetables, fruits and flowers produce continuously for weeks.
Because the Hydroponic Home Farm looks like furniture, not machinery, families interact with it naturally — more like tending a houseplant than maintaining equipment. I joke that Chicago winters don’t care about basil, but Aquager does.
Designed for Chicago living, Aquager products are tailored to the realities of city life. In small apartments or condos, space is always tight, so both the Grab & Grow Kit and the Home Farm fit comfortably into limited kitchens.
Long winters with minimal sunlight aren’t a problem, as the built-in lighting provides what plants need year-round. And because the farms produce food continuously, families avoid the frustration of wilted greens and last-minute grocery runs.
The systems also bring kids and families into the process. Children learn how food grows, and adults get to cook with ingredients harvested just minutes before hitting the plate.
MISSION ROOTED IN ACCESS
Our guiding principle is simple: Fresh organic produce should be a right, not a privilege. My background in civil engineering, construction engineering and management, and technological entrepreneurship at Illinois Institute of Technology gave me the tools to turn that principle into a product.
The result is a piece of furniture that makes fresh, organic, healthy produce achievable in any home.
The future of local food is personal. When homes can produce part of their diet, the whole city becomes stronger.
SPECIAL OFFER FOR LOCAL FOOD FORUM READERS
To celebrate our growing partnership with Chicago’s food community, we’re offering a 10% discount on any Aquager product purchased online. Use code AQUAGER2025 at checkout.
CONNECT WITH AQUAGER
Explore the farms and kits: https://aquagertech.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aquager_tech/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aquager-technologies/
Media/partnership inquiries: jzeman@aquagertech.com
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