The story of the WeGrow Group – from the windowsill in Bonn to the whole world
More than 13 years ago, the two founders of WeGrow discovered the Kiri tree in the botanical garden of the University of Bonn, Germany. They founded the company in their student appartement. Today, the company supplies customers in 47 countries worldwide.
WeGrow AG – driven by passion and innovative spirit
The company WeGrow was founded in 2009 by agranomist Peter Diessenbacher and economist Allin Gasparian. During their student days at the University of Bonn, Germany, the two founders discovered the extremely fast-growing Kiri tree in the university’s botanical garden. With their first own Kiri tree variety, NordMax21®, the two succeeded for the first time in successfully cultivating the Kiri tree for sustainable timber production in Germany as well. What began under the pitched roof of Diessenbacher’s student flat has since developed into the market-leading company in the field of sustainable Kiri wood production in Europe. However, with customers in 47 countries on 5 continents by now, WeGrow has also been able to position itself successfully beyond the borders of Europe.
The history of WeGrow AG at a glance
2009
Foundation of WeGrow GmbH
as a spin-off of the University of Bonn, Germany, Department of Renewable Resources
2011
First Kiri cultivation area in Germany
on five hectares
2012
Establishment of the horticulture business
with its own greenhouses
Protection of the variety NordMax21®
Paulownia tomentosa x Paulownia fortunei
First own in-vitro laboratory
with three workstations
2015
New company headquarters in Tönisvorst
and second branch in Güstrow
European plant variety protection for PhoenixOne®
Paulownia elongata x Paulownia fortunei
2017
Foundation of WeGrow AgriTec SL, Spain
Partner for plantation management in Talavera de la Reina
2019
New in-vitro laboratory
with 20 workstations at the Tönisvorst site
Plant variety protection for our hybrid breeds H2F3® and H2F4®
Paulownia catalpifolia x Paulownia fortunei
Further internationalisation of the business
with cultivation partnerships in Africa and Latin America
2020
Opening of the first own sawmill
for wood processing at the Tönisvorst site
2021
Foundation of WeGrow AG
Opening of the company to investors
2024
WeGrow supplies customers in 47 countries
850,000 young trees are delivered
Wood-based building materials
Planning of a fully automated KiriFactory for the production of wood-based building materials: KiriBloX, KiriTherm®, KiriDur®