A new startup called Electric Plant Company has emerged from stealth with $11.2 million in seed funding and an AI model named Bombadil, designed to interpret the electrical signals generated by plants.
The company was co-founded by Justin Mast, who previously founded online plant retailer Bloomscape, and neuroscientist Lee von Kraus. Its goal is to help farmers, researchers and plant-care businesses understand plant health through continuous monitoring rather than relying solely on visual inspections or soil measurements. <Cite refs={["turn454829search0","turn454829search2"]}/>
Electric Plantโs Bud sensor attaches to a plant or tree and records electrical activity in its living tissue. That data is then analysed by Bombadil, which estimates indicators associated with plant physiology and stress.
The company says its model was trained on more than 4 million hours of electrical recordings from 100 plant species, collected across different environments. Its technical paper describes estimating seven physiological indicators, including measures associated with photosynthesis, leaf temperature and water stress. <Cite refs={["turn454829search1","turn454829search0"]}/>
If the technology proves reliable in real-world deployments, it could help growers:
The potential applications extend from commercial orchards and farms to forestry, landscaping and household plant care. However, the modelโs performance and practical benefits will need to be assessed across different crops and operating conditions. <Cite refs={["turn454829search2","turn454829search3"]}/>
The $11.2 million seed round was led by Onto Ventures and Climactic, with participation from Ponderosa, Endeavor Catalyst, Ludlow, Michigan Rise, The Fund, Schox VC and Dug Song.
Electric Plant says its technology is already being tested at commercial sites, with hundreds of sensors deployed in the field. <Cite refs={["turn454829search0","turn454829search2"]}/>
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