Potsdam, Germany-based Stenon is an agtech startup that enables real time soil testing without the need for a lab.

Stenon, a German agtech that is providing laboratory independent real-time soil analysis, has raised a $20 million Series A round from Founders Fund, David Friedberg’s The Production Board and existing investors including Cherry Ventures and Atlantic Labs. (TechCrunch)

The FarmLab

The Stenon FarmLab, a portable device from Stenon can instantly measure soil parameters including soil temperature, soil moisture, soil type and texture, and pH value. It also measures nitrogen, ammonium, plant available phosphorus, potassium, soil organic carbon, and magnesium.

Farmers need not send soil samples to a lab for soil testing, saving precious time and money. Instead the Stenon device provides soil data – more than 5,000 data points per measurement – in mere seconds without having to extract soil, by just pushing the sensor device into the ground.

Farmers benefit from insight into their soil, higher crop yields, and a minimization of risk from climate fluctuations due to better soil fertility.

Co-founder and CEO Dominic Roth said to TechCrunch: “Stenon’s mission is to become the soil data company in agriculture and get rid of the need for physical laboratories. Without soil data being available at scale, farmers will neither be able to work sustainably and profitably in the future. Additionally, the market is dynamically moving into the direction of regenerative ag or autonomous farming — all of these practices will require the data set that we are providing.”

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