Terrasabia
Simplifying and empowering farmers and agriculture through IoT and the Cloud.
Startup Snapshot
Startup name: Terrasabia
Industry: AgTech
Business Model: B2B SaaS
Founders: Edgar Jauregui, Joel Valdivia, Isaac Muñoz
Operates in: Mexico and Guatemala
HQ Location: Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Team Size: 6
Founded: 2021
Stage: Pre-seed
Investors: Friends & Family
Accelerators: Mass Challenge, Reto Zapopan
Website: https://www.terrasabia.mx/
What does Terrasabia do?
Terrasabia is a startup that is revolutionizing plant cultivation through their web platform. Their IoT devices collect crucial data such as temperature, humidity, and more in near-real-time, providing recommendations that help optimize water and fertilizer usage, thus improving irrigation management.
Their devices monitor around 8 parameters every 5 minutes, and this data is then transformed into actionable insights and future predictions, enabling smarter plant care. Terrasabia focuses on creating harmony in the plant ecosystem, from sunlight to soil conditions, to achieve better yields.
Terrasabia offers three device models, including one that measures pH and nutrient levels, which helps farmers make precise fertilizer adjustments for cost savings. They aim to help farmers save time and resources while achieving better yields.
What’s your backstory?
About a decade ago, Edgar met Joel and Isaac through a church group, and they became his co-founders. Edgar invited them to join him in building EcoRoof. Initially, EcoRoof provided an advanced roofing solution that regulated temperature and helped save on energy costs for heating and cooling. They also created an app and probes that sent data to the cloud, creating a connected ecosystem that allowed real-time monitoring.
However, everything changed when they attended an agricultural expo in Jalisco, invited by a mentor. At the expo, they demonstrated their project to agricultural producers, who immediately recognized the potential of their monitoring technology in their fields. This experience made the founders realize the potential of their technology in the agroindustry. As a result, they decided to pivot entirely towards the agroindustry.
With this newfound focus, EcoRoof rebranded as Terrasabia and focused on developing a comprehensive platform designed to cater to the agricultural sector's unique needs.
How did you acquire your first customers?
Their first customer was referred to them by an investor. They demonstrated their rooftop concept with renderings, prototypes, and immersive demos to the partner, ultimately securing a sale of about 10 square meters of their roofing solution.
In their early days, they acquired a few customers through expos and government-organized events, although these numbers were modest.
Following their shift at the agricultural expo, they compiled a list of interested parties and offered a two-month trial period to showcase their platform's capabilities, which proved highly effective. This approach successfully attracted a few small and medium-sized agricultural producers.
When did you realize you had achieved PMF?
Building the product wasn't the main challenge; it was finding the right channel to reach their customers. This concept of channel-market fit was pivotal. Initially, they struggled with selling and delivering sensors to agricultural producers in a way that aligned with their preferences.
To tackle this challenge, they changed their approach. They started collaborating with local distributors and brand representatives with strong connections with agricultural producers in specific regions. These included agronomists, fertilizer brands, or small tractor shop owners with established relationships and expertise in their respective areas.
They decided to help these local partners by providing them with the needed knowledge and tools. When a distributor entered a new market, they would work closely with them for the initial 6-7 sales. During this period, they educated them on installation procedures, potential issues, pricing strategies, and negotiation techniques. For instance, they encouraged offering the first month free to entice customers into committing to an annual subscription. This strategy has proven successful in making their product more accessible and scalable.
What's your motivation?
EcoRoof has always strongly focused on environmental impact, particularly on the planet that future generations will inherit. This was the driving force behind their work. They initially used this focus to assess whether they positively impacted or addressed the larger problem. Even with their pivot to other areas, they prioritize this issue. As they shifted to agriculture as Terrasabia, their core mission remains unchanged as they contribute to soil improvement, soil contamination and salinity reduction, and water conservation by saving water and fertilizer.
What's next for Terrasabia?
They're actively working on securing formal investment, having built relationships with local investment funds. Their goal is to structure their first official investment round either by the end of this year or early next year. Building trust and establishing rapport with investors is a gradual process.
In the short term, their objective is clear – seek funding for their startup. Simultaneously, within the next two months, they're expanding their business into the thriving agricultural hub in the southern region of Jalisco. Thanks to their distributor's efforts and customer recommendations, they've already received their first paid order within three weeks. They're focused on maximizing their presence in this promising agricultural region.
Once they secure investment, their plan includes integrating machine learning algorithms for predictive analysis. It intends to provide producers with valuable insights, such as advanced monitoring and early detection of pest infestations.
Tips for other founders:
It is crucial to engage in meaningful conversations with customers and to listen to them truly. Often, we hold onto our ideas, not necessarily because they are the best, but because they are what we are familiar with.
However, customers should be our guiding compass. They are the ones who pay and help our business grow. This applies to all businesses. All businesses rely on customers for sales and growth, understanding their needs and improving how to serve them. Therefore, listening to customers should always be a top priority.
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