40°27′53″N 86°55′38″W / 40.4647°N 86.9273°W
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Precision agriculture |
Founded | January 16, 2009West Lafayette, Indiana | in
Founder | Johnny Park |
Headquarters | West Lafayette, Indiana |
Key people | Johnny Park, CEO |
Products | Spensa AP, Z-Trap |
Owner | DTN |
Number of employees | 30 (2018) |
Website |
spensatech |
Spensa Technologies was a private company based in the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, Indiana that specialized in precision agriculture. The company, founded in 2009, was known for its ag-related technology, [1] [2] including automated pest sensors and software. It was acquired in April 2018 by DTN. [3]
Spensa was founded on 16 January 2009 by Johnny Park, a computer engineering professor at Purdue University, whose research into robotics and computer vision in farming (supported by a $6.4M USDA grant) led to the creation of the company. With support from the National Science Foundation [4] and private investment, [5] [6] Spensa expanded its operations [7] and developed agriculture-related hardware and software products.
Spensa's principal hardware product was the Z-Trap, an automated electronic device that detects insects in a field and wirelessly reports its data. Its software consisted of both web-based and mobile applications, centered on the Spensa Agronomic Platform (AP), a subscription-based software. [8] [9]
Spensa was acquired in April 2018 by Minneapolis-based DTN, [10] [11] a company owned by TBG AG.
They manufacture the 'Z-Trap,' a device that replaces the painstaking work of estimating pest populations by hand with real-time data. The Z-trap is capable of not only collecting bugs, but it zaps them with electricity in a way that allows the species of bug to be identified, making it much more efficient for farmers to control pests in their fields.
Spensa has built a reputation for its eco-friendly, innovative technologies to manage agronomic pests such as insects, weeds and disease. The company was named one of the top 25 innovative ag-tech startups by Forbes in 2017.
Spensa's...
Spensa Tech's core hardware product is the Z-Trap, an insect sensor which has been on the market for three years already.
Spensa, which has about 45 employees working out of its headquarters in West Lafayette, IN, raised $2.5 million in a Series A round last year; investors include Elevate Ventures, Village Capital, and the Purdue Foundry.
Its software lets farmers record, upload and track observations about their fields; its Z-Trap hardware allows farmers to track pests in the fields by trapping and identifying bug species. Ag Cred: Developed hardware with a National Science Foundation grant; has raised over $5 million in outside funding to date.
Spensa Technologies, a startup that has developed sensors, software, and other products that give farmers insights about their operations, is now set to become part of global digital services company DTN.
40°27′53″N 86°55′38″W / 40.4647°N 86.9273°W
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Precision agriculture |
Founded | January 16, 2009West Lafayette, Indiana | in
Founder | Johnny Park |
Headquarters | West Lafayette, Indiana |
Key people | Johnny Park, CEO |
Products | Spensa AP, Z-Trap |
Owner | DTN |
Number of employees | 30 (2018) |
Website |
spensatech |
Spensa Technologies was a private company based in the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, Indiana that specialized in precision agriculture. The company, founded in 2009, was known for its ag-related technology, [1] [2] including automated pest sensors and software. It was acquired in April 2018 by DTN. [3]
Spensa was founded on 16 January 2009 by Johnny Park, a computer engineering professor at Purdue University, whose research into robotics and computer vision in farming (supported by a $6.4M USDA grant) led to the creation of the company. With support from the National Science Foundation [4] and private investment, [5] [6] Spensa expanded its operations [7] and developed agriculture-related hardware and software products.
Spensa's principal hardware product was the Z-Trap, an automated electronic device that detects insects in a field and wirelessly reports its data. Its software consisted of both web-based and mobile applications, centered on the Spensa Agronomic Platform (AP), a subscription-based software. [8] [9]
Spensa was acquired in April 2018 by Minneapolis-based DTN, [10] [11] a company owned by TBG AG.
They manufacture the 'Z-Trap,' a device that replaces the painstaking work of estimating pest populations by hand with real-time data. The Z-trap is capable of not only collecting bugs, but it zaps them with electricity in a way that allows the species of bug to be identified, making it much more efficient for farmers to control pests in their fields.
Spensa has built a reputation for its eco-friendly, innovative technologies to manage agronomic pests such as insects, weeds and disease. The company was named one of the top 25 innovative ag-tech startups by Forbes in 2017.
Spensa's...
Spensa Tech's core hardware product is the Z-Trap, an insect sensor which has been on the market for three years already.
Spensa, which has about 45 employees working out of its headquarters in West Lafayette, IN, raised $2.5 million in a Series A round last year; investors include Elevate Ventures, Village Capital, and the Purdue Foundry.
Its software lets farmers record, upload and track observations about their fields; its Z-Trap hardware allows farmers to track pests in the fields by trapping and identifying bug species. Ag Cred: Developed hardware with a National Science Foundation grant; has raised over $5 million in outside funding to date.
Spensa Technologies, a startup that has developed sensors, software, and other products that give farmers insights about their operations, is now set to become part of global digital services company DTN.