Paul-Tech just announced the launch of real-time nitrate nitrogen availability measure, the first to achieve this. What impact should this bring to the market?

This data will give farmers more confidence in making more sustainable decisions towards using necessary inputs only when it is necessary and the crops can actually leverage these inputs. Currently most of the market is still growing crops according to their original plan they make for the season - eg if they want to achieve a yield of 10 tonnes then they must add 200kg/N/ha to achieve that. Until know they did not have the opportunity to see from soil data when the inputs are becoming available to plants and used by the plants. Our available nitrogen and nitrogen uptake monitoring gives the proof to actually make changes to the plans. If the conditions in the soil show that there is enough nitrates available then there is no need to add more at that point.

Based on our existing customer base we have seen reductions in Nitrogen usage up to 70% (while maintaining yield) while the average reduction is already at 20%. In 2024 our data helped reduce the usage of Nitrogen by 3000 tonnes.

How is building a tech company for farmers different?

The key is making the data we provide easily understandable which includes analysing it for them. There is a problem in the market that there is a lot of data available but how can you make the decisions based on that is the question. This is what we are doing to provide clear, easy to understand , actionable insight based on the data our system gathers. Also when farmers need the product most, it is the busiest of times for them, so the system must communicate itself with the clients to give them insight even if they forget about the incoming data.

Another important thing is to understand that entrepreneurs like farmers need to be profitable in order to maintain their businesses and take care of their families. And this is what we have taken into account while building the company. Instead of focusing only on saving the world and using less inputs just for the sake of it, the solution will help farmers become more profitable with the insights we provide.

What GTM approach works for your startup to scale?

We are currently focused on sales-led-growth but also discovering partnerships and distribution partners. However direct sales has currently brought in best results together with outbound marketing. In agriculture personalised communication is essential as farmers are used to various products being sold to them. So in the long term we see one potential for scaling together with a global partner who has personalised communications in place with farmers.

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