Nitricity
Nitricity is a private climate-tech company that produces plant-based organic nitrogen fertilizer (Ash Tea) from air, water, renewable electricity, and recycled almond shells, selling to organic and conventional farmers in California via binding offtake agreements.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersFremont, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Nitricity does
Nitricity is a private climate-tech and agtech company that produces plant-based organic nitrogen fertilizer using an electrified process that combines air, water, renewable electricity, and recycled almond shells. Founded in 2018 by Stanford graduate students Nicolas Pinkowski (CEO), Joshua McEnaney (President/CTO), and Jay Schwalbe (CSO), the company operates from Fremont, California, with a pilot factory producing 80 tons of fertilizer annually (covering approximately 80 acres of crops). Its flagship product line consists of Ash Tea and Calcium-Fortified Ash Tea, both OMRI-listed and CDFA OIM-registered liquid fertilizers designed for organic farming and engineered for compatibility with modern drip irrigation systems.
The company's core technology bypasses the fossil-fuel-dependent Haber-Bosch process and avoids animal-derived inputs common in other organic fertilizers, producing a pathogen-free, odor-free liquid that delivers up to 30% yield improvements while using 24% less nitrogen than conventional organic alternatives, according to internal field trials. Nitricity generates revenue through B2B sales of its liquid fertilizer products to organic and conventional farmers via binding multi-year offtake agreements; full production capacity is already pre-sold through 2028 with a $150M+ sales pipeline reported. Its primary customer segments are organic farmers in California's Central Valley and Salinas Valley (for vegetables, leafy greens, almonds, and specialty crops), with strategic relationships including Olam Food Ingredients, Hippo Harvest, Visionary Vegetables (a Chipotle supplier), and Chipotle itself through its Cultivate Next investment fund. The company is scaling toward commercial production via its first-of-a-kind Delhi, California facility, backed by approximately $85M in disclosed funding across seed, Series A, project financing, USDA grants, and a $50M Series B closed in September 2025.
Nitricity firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Nitricity
- Legal name
- Nitricity Inc.
- Website
- https://nitricity.co
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Nitricity is a private climate-tech company that produces plant-based organic nitrogen fertilizer (Ash Tea) from air, water, renewable electricity, and recycled almond shells, selling to organic and conventional farmers in California via binding offtake agreements.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Nitricity industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Organic Nitrogen Fertilizers
- NAICS
- Nitrogenous Fertilizer Manufacturing (325311)
- SIC
- Industrial Inorganic Chemicals (2810)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Liquid Specialty Fertilizers (Suspensions, Solutions, UAN Blends) (AFABACAF)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Nitrogen Fertilizers (Ammonia, Urea, UAN, Ammonium Nitrate/Sulfate) (AFABABAA)
Keywords
Where Nitricity is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Fremont
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Nitricity business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Organic Fertilizer Sales: Sale of Ash Tea and Calcium-Fortified Ash Tea liquid fertilizers to organic farmers through binding offtake agreements. Revenue generated from product sales with capacity already sold out through 2028.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | B2B fertilizer product with negotiated pricing through offtake agreements |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels6 records
Nitricity product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Nitricity manufactures and sells plant-based organic liquid nitrogen fertilizer (Ash Tea and Calcium-Fortified Ash Tea) brewed from recycled almond shells, air, water, and renewable electricity. The products are OMRI-listed and CDFA OIM-registered for organic farming use and are designed for application through modern drip irrigation systems.
Product overview
Nitricity offers a portfolio of plant-based organic liquid fertilizers centered around its core products: Ash Tea and Calcium-Fortified Ash Tea. Both products are liquid organic nitrogen fertilizers brewed from recycled almond shells, air, water, and renewable electricity. The flagship Ash Tea serves as the base product, while Calcium-Fortified Ash Tea provides an enhanced formulation with added calcium for improved nutrient delivery. Both are OMRI-listed and CDFA OIM-registered for organic farming applications and are designed to be applied through modern irrigation systems without clogging.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Ash Tea: Nitricity's flagship plant-based organic nitrogen fertilizer liquid made from recycled almond shells, air, water, and renewable power. Cost-competitive with other organic fertilizers, OMRI-listed and CDFA OIM-registered for organic farming use.
- Calcium-Fortified Ash Tea
Products and services
- Ash Tea Nitricity's flagship plant-based organic nitrogen liquid fertilizer made from recycled almond shells, air, water, and renewable power. OMRI-listed and CDFA OIM-registered for use in organic farming, designed for application through modern drip irrigation systems without clogging.
- Calcium-Fortified Ash Tea Enhanced version of Ash Tea providing mid-season plant-available nitrogen and calcium for organic systems where these nutrients are difficult to access. Delivers essential nutrients while supporting soil structure and microbial activity, OMRI-listed and CDFA OIM-registered for organic farming.
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to 30% yield increase in field trials
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Nitricity
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Nitricity technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Nitricity partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.
- Hippo HarvestcoreOrganic greenhouse vegetable grower in San Francisco Bay Area. Using Nitricity's CDFA-approved and OMRI-listed fertilizer for lettuce production. Expanding to larger-scale trial.
- Olam Food Ingredients (ofi)flagshipGlobal leader in natural food ingredients. Conducting field trial on young almond trees in Madera/Chowchilla County. Zac Ellis (Senior Director, Agronomy) leads partnership. Company targeting net zero GHG emissions by 2050.
- Madera/Chowchilla Resource Conservation DistrictminorPartnership for educational programming for local growers alongside field trials with ofi and Elemental Excelerator.
- Elemental ExceleratorcoreNonprofit climate investor. Provided Square Partnerships Model funding for Fremont pilot system and field trials. Partnership for tonnage delivery and community impact.
- Visionary VegetablescoreOrganic and conventional vegetable grower in Salinas Valley. Conducted three significant field trials with Ash Tea on cilantro, celery, and lettuce. Tim McAfee (founder) was early collaborator and supporter. Major supplier for Chipotle.
- FrontiercoreClimate commitment platform facilitating carbon removal purchases. Partnership to accelerate development of climate-smart solutions in agriculture.
- International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC)coreNonprofit fertilizer innovation leader. Launched project at IFDC's Muscle Shoals, Alabama facility to measure GHG emissions from Nitricity's production to soil application. Research expected to validate sustainability and scalability.
- Stanford UniversitycoreCompany founded by Stanford graduate students Nicolas Pinkowski, Joshua McEnaney, and Jay Schwalbe. Initial development funded by CalTech $5,000 grant. Company formed from Stanford connections.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Nitricity competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Pivot Bio: Closest direct peer; develops microbial nitrogen-fixing products that replace synthetic nitrogen fertilizer for corn and other row crops. Competes with Nitricity for the sustainability-driven nitrogen replacement market but uses a biology-first approach rather than electrified manufacturing.
- Anuvia Plant Nutrients: Produces organic fertilizer from organic waste streams (similar upcycling premise to Nitricity's almond-shell feedstock). Targets professional turf and agriculture markets with enhanced-efficiency fertilizer products.
- Sound Agriculture: Offers SOURCE and other microbe-based fertilizer efficiency products that reduce nitrogen and phosphorus needs for row crops. Directly addresses the same farmer pain point (fertilizer cost and emissions) with a different technology approach.
Emerging players
- Kula Bio: Develops biological nitrogen fertilizer using nitrogen-fixing bacteria with a sustainable production process. Competes in the alternative-nitrogen space but at an earlier commercial stage than Nitricity.
- Locus Agricultural Solutions: Produces microbial soil treatments and biological fertilizers that improve nitrogen use efficiency. Adjacent technology approach to Nitricity's nitrogen replacement goal, targeting specialty and row crops.
Broad incumbents
- Yara International: Global nitrogen fertilizer leader and the dominant Haber-Bosch-era incumbent. Has begun piloting green ammonia and low-carbon nitrogen projects, directly competing with Nitricity's electrification thesis at massive scale.
- Nutrien: World's largest fertilizer producer and agricultural retailer with broad nitrogen, phosphate, potash, and specialty plant nutrition portfolios. Represents the conventional channel and incumbent competition Nitricity must displace or partner with.
- ICL Group: Global specialty fertilizers and plant nutrition company with significant organic and controlled-release fertilizer lines (e.g., Agromaster, NovaPeak). Overlaps with Nitricity in specialty/plant-based nutrition and is a potential acquirer or competitor in organic segments.
- OCI Global: Major global nitrogen producer (ammonia, urea, UAN) with announced low-carbon and green ammonia projects. Direct competition for the conventional nitrogen market Nitricity seeks to disrupt.
Others
- Tidal Vision: Upcycles seafood waste into chitosan-based agricultural and water-treatment products. Operates a similar waste-to-agricultural-input model as Nitricity's almond-shell upcycling and serves as an adjacent comparison for circular-economy ag inputs.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Nitricity social profiles
Digital presenceNitricity compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Nitricity financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Nitricity leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Nitricity funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds9 records
Investors17 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Nitricity M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Nitricity
What does Nitricity do?
Nitricity manufactures and sells plant-based organic liquid nitrogen fertilizer (Ash Tea and Calcium-Fortified Ash Tea) brewed from recycled almond shells, air, water, and renewable electricity. The products are OMRI-listed and CDFA OIM-registered for organic farming use and are designed for application through modern drip irrigation systems.
Is Nitricity a public or private company?
Nitricity is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Nitricity founded?
Nitricity was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Nitricity based?
Nitricity is headquartered in Fremont, United States, in the North America region.
How does Nitricity make money?
One revenue line is on record: organic Fertilizer Sales.
Who are Nitricity's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Pivot Bio, Anuvia Plant Nutrients and Sound Agriculture. Emerging players are Kula Bio and Locus Agricultural Solutions. Broad incumbents are Yara International, Nutrien, ICL Group and OCI Global. Tidal Vision is listed as an others.
Does Nitricity have an API?
No public API is recorded for Nitricity.
What industry is Nitricity in?
Nitricity's product category is Organic Nitrogen Fertilizers. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFABACAF, Liquid Specialty Fertilizers (Suspensions, Solutions, UAN Blends), with a secondary code of AFABABAA, Nitrogen Fertilizers (Ammonia, Urea, UAN, Ammonium Nitrate/Sulfate). Its NAICS code is 325311 and its SIC code is 2810.