AgZen develops feedback-optimized spraying technology that measures and controls droplet coverage at the leaf level, in order to cut waste of agricultural chemicals and water. The company was founded in 2020 as a spinout from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by MIT Professor Kripa Varanasi and his former doctoral student Vishnu Jayaprakash, and draws on more than a decade of research in fluid dynamics and surface science dating back to 2011. It is headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, with operations across North America, Europe and Australia, a dealer network of more than 250 locations, and $13.5m in funding. The stated mission is to ensure that every droplet sprayed counts.
Its flagship product, RealCoverage, is described as the first system able to measure and control droplet coverage at the leaf level. Dual-camera units mounted on standard sprayers give operators a real-time, in-cab view of where spray droplets land, while AI-powered recommendations optimise nozzle selection, spray pressure, boom height and driving speed. AgZen reports reductions of 30-50% in chemical and water usage without loss of crop protection efficacy. A second product, EnhanceCoverage, is a nozzle technology that cloaks droplets with adjuvants to make them more likely to adhere to plant surfaces rather than bounce off.
The technology addresses a problem of considerable scale: by the company's account, as much as 90% of sprayed pesticides and fertilisers never reach the intended target. AgZen's work sits at the intersection of fluid dynamics, surface science, computer vision, nozzle engineering and precision agriculture, and serves the agriculture and crop protection sectors.
