Who Owns The Sprouting Company?
The Sprouting Company is a brand of Wova Labs, Inc., a private venture-backed company founded in 2020. Doug Evans, author of The Sprout Book, leads the company, and Grammy-nominated musician Mike Posner is identified as a co-founder. The company appeared on Shark Tank in October 2025 and left without a deal.
Parent Company
Founded
2020
Status
Private
Headquarters
Who Owns The Sprouting Company?
- Parent Company: Wova Labs, Inc.
- Ownership Type: Brand division
- Company Type: Privately Held
| Brand | Parent Company | Ownership Type |
|---|---|---|
| The Sprouting Company | Wova Labs, Inc. | Brand division |
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History of The Sprouting Company
- Founded: 2020
- Founders: Doug Evans, Mike Posner
The brand's history starts with Doug Evans's personal advocacy. Evans served in the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division before building businesses in design, juice, and plant-based food. He spent roughly three decades promoting home sprouting as a way to grow nutrient-dense food cheaply, and his book The Sprout Book brought the practice to a mainstream audience.
The company itself was founded in 2020. Rather than selling generic mason-jar kits, Evans and his team designed a purpose-built countertop sprouter from scratch, iterating on materials, airflow, and drainage over years of prototypes. Two patents were issued on the design. The product line grew to include starter kits, individual organic seed varieties including a high-sulforaphane broccoli seed with third-party nutritional verification, seed subscriptions, a tote, and a free companion app with tracking and recipes.
In October 2025, Evans pitched the company on Shark Tank Season 17, Episode 4, asking for investment at a $10 million valuation. Kevin O'Leary and Daymond John offered $500,000 for 15 percent. Evans declined, and the company left without a deal.
The aftermath validated the ask. Company-reported figures showed monthly revenue climbing from roughly $200,000 before the broadcast to more than $1 million by March 2026, an annualized pace near $12 million. Atland Ventures disclosed an investment during this period, and the company continued expanding seed varieties and kit bundles through 2026.
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About Wova Labs, Inc.
What does Wova Labs own?
Wova Labs, Inc. owns The Sprouting Company brand, including its patented countertop sprouter, organic seed line, seed subscription service, companion app, and thesproutingcompany.com store. It holds two issued patents on the sprouter design.
Is Wova Labs publicly traded?
No. Wova Labs is a private venture-backed company. Its disclosed investors include Atland Ventures, Impact Assets, and Offline Ventures, and no shares trade on any exchange.
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Who founded Wova Labs?
Doug Evans founded the company in 2020, and musician Mike Posner is identified as a co-founder in company materials. Evans is the author of The Sprout Book and has advocated home sprouting for about 30 years.
Where is Wova Labs headquartered?
PitchBook records the company's headquarters as Newton, Massachusetts, United States. Founder Doug Evans works from Wonder Valley, California.
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How many brands does Wova Labs own?
One. The Sprouting Company is the company's sole consumer brand, covering hardware, seeds, subscriptions, and the app.
Who owns Wova Labs?
The company is owned by its founders and its venture investors: Atland Ventures, Impact Assets, and Offline Ventures hold minority stakes. The founders retain control after declining the October 2025 Shark Tank offer.
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What was the Shark Tank outcome?
Doug Evans pitched the company on Shark Tank Season 17, Episode 4, aired October 22, 2025, at a $10 million valuation. He declined a $500,000 for 15 percent offer from Kevin O'Leary and Daymond John and left without a deal. Reported monthly revenue later passed $1 million.
- Founded: 2020
- Headquarters: Newton, Massachusetts, United States
- Company Type: Privately Held
Where Is The Sprouting Company Made / Based?
- Headquarters: Newton, Massachusetts, United States
- Manufacturing / Operations: United States
The Sprouting Company Categories & Tags
The Sprouting Company Sustainability & Ethics
The brand's core product thesis is sustainability-adjacent: growing food on a kitchen counter removes packaging, transport, and agricultural inputs from part of a household's vegetable supply. Seeds are marketed as organic, and the high-sulforaphane broccoli seed carries third-party nutritional verification.
No independent certifications such as USDA Organic on the full catalog, B Corp status, or Leaping Bunny registration were found in public databases as of November 2026. Claims around organic seed sourcing derive from company materials rather than certifier records.
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The Sprouting Company Recalls & Controversies
No product recalls or regulatory actions are on record for the brand. The most visible public moment was the October 2025 Shark Tank episode, where the founders' decision to reject a $500,000 for 15 percent offer generated debate online; subsequent reported revenue growth was widely covered as vindication.
Sprouting as a product category carries a known food-safety context: the FDA has long advised that raw sprouts can carry bacterial contamination risk. The company addresses this through seed pathogen testing and education, and no contamination event has been publicly linked to its products.
The Sprouting Company Ownership: Pros & Cons
Advantages
- +Founder authenticity: Doug Evans's 30-year advocacy gives the brand unusual credibility in a niche.
- +Patented hardware differentiates it from commodity jar kits.
- +Recurring seed subscriptions create predictable consumable revenue.
- +Shark Tank exposure delivered awareness without giving up equity.
Considerations
- -Small team and single product line create key-person and concentration risk.
- -Reported revenue surges are self-reported and unverified.
- -Sprouting remains a niche habit with limited mainstream adoption.
- -Food-safety perception around raw sprouts is a category-level headwind.
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Frequently Asked Questions About The Sprouting Company
Sources & Further Reading
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Competitors to The Sprouting Company
No direct competitors found in the same category. This could be because The Sprouting Companyoperates in a unique market segment or we're still building our competitor database.
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