Electric Plant was founded by CEO Justin Mast and neuroscientist Lee von Kraus, who previously worked with DARPA. Mast became interested in plant bioelectricity after encountering research involving a houseplant connected to a motorized platform that responded to its electrical signals by moving toward light.
That research helped inspire a system that measures a plant's internal responses rather than relying entirely on external conditions. Traditional agricultural monitoring tools, including soil sensors, spectroscopes and satellite imagery, provide useful information but may not capture changes occurring inside plants quickly enough to guide immediate decisions.
“That technology is sophisticated, but its ability to get at the inside of the plant isn’t very sophisticated. Most of that stuff still lags quite a bit behind the real-time needs of the plant,” Mast told TechCrunch.
Electric Plant's hardware attaches directly to trees or other plants using stainless steel screws that reach the cambium, a layer of living tissue beneath the bark. The sensors detect tiny electrical fluctuations and transmit the measurements wirelessly to a nearby base station. Bombadil processes the information in the cloud before returning recommendations that customers can use to adjust watering or fertilizer schedules.
According to Mast, the system requires only a few sensors per acre to produce reliable measurements. He also estimates that each sensor costs tens of dollars, compared with thousands of dollars for some conventional monitoring equipment.
The company claims its technology could increase agricultural yields while reducing water consumption by at least 20%. Those performance figures are company estimates, and Mast has not identified Electric Plant's initial customers.
To develop Bombadil, Electric Plant initially relied on information collected through established agricultural monitoring equipment, using those measurements to help its AI interpret biological electrical activity. Mast believes the model will eventually outperform many of the tools used to train it.
Although agriculture is an immediate application, the technology could also be used in forestry and other settings where monitoring plant health is important. The company's existing model already covers a wide range of plant types, allowing it to study electrical responses across substantially different species.
Electric Plant's longer-term ambition is to create technology that enables more direct communication between humans and plants. For now, its focus is on interpreting signals rather than sending information back to living organisms.
“We’re listening more than we’re speaking, but listening’s the first step,” Mast said.
The new financing will support the commercialization of Electric Plant's sensors and AI platform as the company works to turn biological electrical measurements into practical information for growers.
This analysis is based on reporting from TechCrunch & the tech buzz.
Image courtesy of Electric Plant.
This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.
