The Croatian startup changing plant care with smart pot 

(Photo credit: Choncha)

The Croatian startup Choncha, founded by Frano Primorac, a student from the Faculty of Organization and Informatics in Varaždin, less than a year and a half ago, raised 120,000 euros in investment. 

Choncha is a startup that has developed a smart plant pot. Its name is derived from a Herzegovinian term for a pot, and this container has a smart irrigation system and sensors to monitor plant growth conditions, connected to a mobile application of the same name. 

The first investment was made by Primorac’s former colleague from FOI, Ivan Poldrugač, novac.jutarnji.hr reported. Primorac says that the nearly one million kuna of initial investment capital is coming at just the right time. 

“The majority of the investment is going towards the mass production of Choncha,” says Primorac. He notes that in less than a year and a half, they won at the EIT-Climate KIC and had a successful Kickstarter campaign, with 129 customers ordering smart plant pots worth $10,675. The Kickstarter campaign was twice as successful as planned.

Primorac states that their current goal is to sell the first batch of mass-produced products and prepare for expansion. They will be initially targeting customers in Croatia and the surrounding region. 

“I believe we will have enough customers from Croatia alone, but we are also open to orders from the region. We haven’t expanded further, although our Kickstarter campaign showed that we have a considerable potential for global expansion, especially in the USA, from where more than 60 percent of all orders came,” says Primorac.

(Photo credit: Choncha)

Intensive testing has been conducted to ensure technological readiness for production, with about ten Choncha units internally tested for a year. 

According to Primorac, the results have been very promising. Choncha contains sensors for light, soil moisture, air humidity, and temperature. Moreover, it includes a water container and can autonomously irrigate a plant for up to a month and a half. 

“Choncha has a database of over 500 plants and can help you identify which plant you have, recommend the conditions for its cultivation, automatically water it, and alert you to any issues. If you don’t have a plant yet, you can place Choncha where you want to plant one, and based on the sensor data, our application will advise you on the optimal plants to grow in that location,” concludes Primorac, adding that they will continue with further development.