Data-based solutions for Agri-Tech: Interview with the Remote sensing startup GreenSp

[المشرف العام]

With more than 7 billion people calling planet Earth their home, the importance of technology in Agriculture has never been greater. Every week, there are new startups cropping up, hoping to make the world a better place by integrating technology into Agriculture. I had the pleasure of talking to Dr. Sebastian Fritsch, the CEO and Founder of GreenSpin, a German startup that looks at Agri-Tech a little differently.


The Agri-Tech scene is really buzzing with activity and it’s really exciting to see a Remote sensing doctorate head an interesting company. How does GreenSpin fit into the Agri-Tech scene, what are you guys working on?

The team behind GreenSpinWe all have a background in remote sensing and GIS, our team consists of three geographers and one computer scientist. When we started in 2013, we believed that these technologies can really benefit agriculture in some way. At that time, however, we didn’t have a complete overview of the current market. Only when we began researching the market and talking to people, we realized exactly what potential Agri-Tech offers.

A lot of people in the market think that big data, including but not limited to remote sensing and other geo-data, will take agricultural productivity to the next level. Or at least, simplify a lot of complex processes. However, currently the farmer itself has no real advantage from these new developments. The data is often too complex and there is a lack of simple solutions based on these data. In addition, the farmer often loses his ability to make the actual decisions and he also has to give a lot of data about his business. Most farmers don’t like that.

A lot of people in the market think that big data, including but not limited to remote sensing and other geo-data, will take agricultural productivity to the next level. Or at least, simplify a lot of complex processes. However, currently the farmer itself has no real advantage from these new developments.​

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We wanted to change that to a certain extent. What we are doing at the moment is developing an online tool that simplifies the process of generating information from different data sources. The farmer can use this information directly to make decisions or generate certain maps that help in his daily operations. Fertilizer application maps are just one example. All processes will be automated, and the tool will be available for all farmers in a certain country. We will start in Germany in 2015, but we have plans to quickly expand the coverage of the tool.


<span style="color: #3366ff;">Are the farmers (finally) willing to trust computers and researchers more than their age-old traditions? <b>