Electric Plant has raised an $11.2 million seed round to commercialize sensors and an AI model that interpret the tiny electrical signals moving through plant tissue. Onto Ventures and Climactic led the round, with several other investors participating.
The startup’s Bombadil model has been trained on roughly 125 plant species, including tomatoes, redwoods, ferns, and dahlias. Stainless-steel probes reach the cambium, the living layer beneath bark, and send measurements over a low-power wireless network to a base station. Bombadil analyzes the data in the cloud and returns information that growers can use to adjust watering or fertilizer.
Co-founder Justin Mast said the hardware costs tens of dollars, compared with thousands for some existing agricultural instruments, and that only a few sensors are needed per acre. He also claims the system can reduce water use by at least 20% while improving yields, though TechCrunch reported no independent validation or named customers.
For now, the product listens rather than literally conversing with plants. Its practical test will be whether electrical signals provide earlier, more useful guidance than soil probes, imaging, and other established tools.