EarthSense
Founded 2016 · 38 employees on LinkedIn · 9 known investors
EarthSense develops AI and robotics solutions for agriculture to address sustainability and productivity challenges. The company serves farmers and agricultural operations seeking to balance environmental and economic outcomes.
Also known as EarthSense Inc.
Founders & leadership
EarthSense was founded in 2016 by Chinmay Soman.
Investors · 9
Company profile
researched Aug 2026EarthSense develops agricultural robotics and machine-vision software for tree crops, focused on oil palm plantations, orchards and vineyards. Its offering is organized around Terra AI, a software stack that runs across all of its machines and, according to the company, operates without RTK GPS and without an internet connection, functioning under canopy and in dust, slope and mud conditions. Terra AI performs per-tree perception (tree counting, vacant-point detection, terrain classification) and records coverage maps, dosing rates and per-pass application logs that can be exported for RSPO, MSPO, ISPO, EUDR and sustainability-linked finance reporting, in CSV, GeoJSON or custom formats for integration with estate management systems.
Three product lines sit on top of Terra AI. TerraMax is an autonomous payload robot for oil palm estates with a 750 kg payload, 4WD all-electric drive with independent wheel control, all-day operation on a single overnight charge, and localization via the Terra AI WayFAST visual-inertial stack; it currently performs fertilizing, with spraying, transport and harvesting planned on the same chassis. TerraMax v3 is described as the third platform generation, in field operation since 2024 and tested in Malaysia and Indonesia across monsoon and dry seasons. SmartSpread is a retrofit kit that converts a conventional palm tractor into a per-tree fertilizer applicator, delivered as Fertilizing-as-a-Service. SmartSpray is a smart-spray kit for orchard and vineyard growers that attaches to existing tractors and sprayers, shutting off spray on turns and gaps, matching dose to canopy and generating a spray record.
Earlier work by the company centered on TerraSentia, its first robot, an under-canopy platform for in-field plant-trait data collection aimed at crop breeders, plant protection product developers, crop scientists and field agronomists, paired with machine vision and machine learning analytics that convert field data into plant-trait information.
Founding story
Publicly identified co-founders include Girish Chowdhary, cited for expertise in agricultural robotics, and Chinmay Soman. The company was a tenant of the EnterpriseWorks incubator at the University of Illinois Research Park from 2016 to 2022, and entered the University of Illinois Research Park in 2021.
Business model
EarthSense sells robotic capability as a service and as retrofit hardware. TerraMax is offered as Fertilizing-as-a-Service priced per hectare per year, with maintenance, software and trained drivers included, so the customer buys no capital equipment and staffs no service team. SmartSpread is a tractor retrofit delivered under the same Fertilizing-as-a-Service model. SmartSpray for orchards and vineyards is sold as a kit plus seasonal software.
Recurring service fees charged per hectare per year for TerraMax and SmartSpread Fertilizing-as-a-Service, bundling maintenance, software and trained operators; kit sales combined with seasonal software subscriptions for SmartSpray.
Traction
A two-year closed beta was conducted with one of the largest sustainable palm oil producers, after which Fertilizing-as-a-Service pilots for oil palm and smart-spray kits for orchards and vineyards were opened more broadly. The third-generation TerraMax has been in field operation since 2024, with the 750 kg autonomous payload described as working today on palm estates, and Terra AI reported as running on working plantations since 2018. Recognition includes an IIN Innovation Award and a regenerative agriculture grant noted by the University of Illinois Research Park.
Latest developments
The previously closed oil palm beta has been opened to all customers, with Fertilizing-as-a-Service pilots available for SmartSpread and TerraMax and a founding-grower program for SmartSpray kits in orchards and vineyards. TerraMax v3 is in field operation, currently fertilizing, with spraying, transport and harvesting planned on the same chassis.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
EarthSense positions its systems for tree-crop operations facing rising fertilizer costs (which it cites as 40-50% of plantation production cost), a shrinking skilled field workforce (24% fewer skilled field workers than ten years ago), narrowing 3-5 day application windows, and a lack of real-time visibility into field work at head office. It emphasizes operation in conditions where GPS- and connectivity-dependent systems are unreliable, and audit-ready records demanded by buyers, certifiers and lenders.
Autonomy that does not require RTK GPS or internet connectivity and is designed for under-canopy, sloped, dusty plantation environments; a single AI stack deployed across an autonomous robot and retrofit kits for equipment growers already own; per-tree dosing rather than uniform broadcast application; and automatic per-pass record generation formatted for RSPO, MSPO, ISPO, EUDR and sustainability-linked finance requirements.
Technology
Terra AI is a hardware-agnostic autonomy and perception stack shared across EarthSense machines. It uses the WayFAST visual-inertial localization approach rather than RTK GPS, runs offline-first with cellular sync for plantations without network coverage, and adapts to plantation slope, dust, peat and mud. Real-time per-tree perception supports tree counting, vacant-point detection and terrain classification, and drives vision-guided dosing tree by tree. TerraMax hardware is all-electric 4WD with independent wheel control, a 750 kg fertilizer, spray or transport module, all-day runtime on one charge and overnight charging from standard plantation power. Application logs are generated per tree and per pass, with exports for sustainability certification schemes. Earlier machine vision and machine learning analytics on the TerraSentia platform converted under-canopy field data into plant-trait information.
Go-to-market
Direct engagement with estates and growers through a staged pilot: joint mapping of priority blocks with review of inputs, costs, application windows and labor; supervised pilot operations on customer land using drivers EarthSense trains; then scaled deployment with results shown as cost per ton, quality, throughput and audit records on a dashboard. A typical TerraMax pilot runs a site visit, mapping and configuration in months 1-2, supervised pilot operations in months 3-4, and full deployment from month 5. Orchard and vineyard adoption is being seeded through a founding-grower program with reservable kits, and prospects can request a product brochure.
Oil palm plantation operators and estates, and orchard and vineyard growers. Earlier products targeted crop breeders, plant protection product developers, crop scientists and field agronomists.
Geography
Operations are tied to tropical plantation environments, with TerraMax tested in Malaysia and Indonesia through monsoon and dry seasons. The company has US roots at the University of Illinois Research Park in Illinois, where it was an EnterpriseWorks tenant.
History
EarthSense was an EnterpriseWorks startup at the University of Illinois Research Park with an incubator tenure from 2016 to 2022, entering the Research Park in 2021, and was recognized among Research Park milestones including an IIN Innovation Award and a regenerative agriculture grant. Its initial product was TerraSentia, an under-canopy robot for plant-trait data collection. The company states that its Terra AI software has run on working plantations since 2018, and that the third-generation TerraMax platform has been in field operation since 2024. A two-year closed beta was run with a large sustainable palm oil producer, after which EarthSense opened Fertilizing-as-a-Service pilots for oil palm and smart-spray kits for orchard and vineyard growers.
Compiled by commissioned research from 7 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 5
launches, deals, and filingsAfter a two-year closed beta with a large sustainable palm oil producer, EarthSense opened Fertilizing-as-a-Service pilots for oil palm (SmartSpread and TerraMax) and smart-spray kits for orchard and vineyard growers under a founding-grower program.
The third-generation TerraMax autonomous payload robot, with a 750 kg payload and all-electric 4WD drive, has been in field operation on palm estates since 2024.
EarthSense was named among EnterpriseWorks startups winning IIN Innovation Awards, alongside Psyonic and Natrion.
University of Illinois Research Park listed EarthSense as awarded a regenerative agriculture grant.
EarthSense entered the University of Illinois Research Park in 2021; its EnterpriseWorks incubator tenure ran 2016-2022.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 7
primary sources listed
- EarthSenseearthsense.co · web
7 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does EarthSense do?
- EarthSense builds autonomous robots and AI for per-tree fertilizing and spraying in oil palm plantations, orchards and vineyards.
- Who founded EarthSense?
- EarthSense was founded by Chinmay Soman in 2016.
- Who are EarthSense's investors?
- EarthSense's investors include ADB Ventures, Ag Ventures Alliance, AgLaunch Accelerator, Aurum Venture Partners, Bread And Butter Ventures, Llc, Gen Capital, Illinois Ventures, Innova Memphis, Inc. and 1 more.