Crop Diagnostix
Crop Diagnostix is an agricultural biotechnology company that uses plant RNA sequencing and AI to detect crop stress weeks before visible symptoms appear. It delivers its Crop Dx diagnostics platform exclusively through agronomy partners serving corn and potato growers across North America.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2023
- HeadquartersSan Diego, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Crop Diagnostix does
Crop Diagnostix is an agricultural biotechnology company founded in 2023 and based in San Diego, California, that applies plant RNA sequencing and AI-driven gene expression analysis to predictive crop diagnostics. Its Crop Dx platform sequences RNA from leaf samples and interprets coordinated gene expression patterns across approximately 39,000 genes in target crops to detect biological stress from pathogens, nutrient imbalances, drought, and growth-defense allocation trade-offs weeks before visible symptoms appear. The platform delivers three proprietary indices on a 0–100 scale—the Yield Response Index (YRI), Defense Response Index (DRI), and Water Stress Index (WSI)—with insights returned to agronomists within 48 hours. Current pathogen coverage focuses on potato (Verticillium, Early blight, Soft rot, Pink rot, PVY, with Black dot in development), with corn (tar spot) announced as an upcoming vertical.
The company operates an exclusively partner-mediated go-to-market: Crop Diagnostix does not sell directly to growers, but instead delivers its RNA diagnostics through a network of agronomy firms, agricultural retailers, and crop advisors. Distribution partners include national ag retailers CHS Inc., Wilbur-Ellis, and Nutrien Ag Solutions, plus a growing set of regional agronomy firms, cooperatives, and testing laboratories across North America. Pricing is publicly disclosed at approximately $500–$700 per field per season; field trials have demonstrated an $720 per acre net profit advantage, an 8% yield increase, and a 23% reduction in crop inputs (including a 38% reduction in nitrogen fertilizer). The company was founded by Brandon Chi (CEO), Amitesh Pratap (CTO), Joseph Swift (CSO), and Leonie Luginbuehl (Scientific Advisor), employs 1–10 people, and raised a $3.5 million seed round led by Trailhead Capital with participation from Kevin O'Leary to support its 2026 commercial launch.
Crop Diagnostix firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Crop Diagnostix
- Legal name
- Crop Diagnostix
- Website
- https://cropdiagnostix.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2023
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Crop Diagnostix is an agricultural biotechnology company that uses plant RNA sequencing and AI to detect crop stress weeks before visible symptoms appear. It delivers its Crop Dx diagnostics platform exclusively through agronomy partners serving corn and potato growers across North America.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Crop Diagnostix industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Precision Agriculture Diagnostics
- SIC
- Agricultural Services (700), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Pathogen & Disease Diagnostics Services (Plant, Soil, Water) (AFACAKAG)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Pest/Disease/Weed Detection & Forecasting Analytics (AFABAMAI)
Keywords
Where Crop Diagnostix is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Diego
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Crop Diagnostix business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Per-Field RNA Diagnostics Service: Seasonal subscription-like model where growers pay per field per season for RNA sequencing-based crop health monitoring. The service includes leaf sample collection, lab sequencing, gene expression analysis, and insight delivery within 48 hours. Revenue is generated through agronomy partners who bundle the service into their offerings or resell it to their grower customers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Annual | Per field per season pricing |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Crop Diagnostix product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Crop Diagnostix operates a plant RNA sequencing-based diagnostics platform that sequences and interprets gene expression across approximately 39,000 plant genes to detect crop stress from pathogens, nutrient imbalances, drought, and growth-defense allocation issues weeks before visible symptoms appear. The platform delivers three core indices—the Yield Response Index (YRI), Defense Response Index (DRI), and Water Stress Index (WSI)—with insights returned to agronomy partners within 48 hours from leaf sample receipt. The service is sold to agronomy partners on a per-field-per-season subscription basis who bundle or resell it to their grower customers.
Product overview
Crop Diagnostix offers a single integrated platform, the Crop Dx Platform, which uses plant RNA sequencing to detect crop stress weeks before visible symptoms appear. The platform delivers three core indices: the Yield Response Index (YRI) measuring biological alignment to yield goals, the Defense Response Index (DRI) for pathogen detection, and the Water Stress Index (WSI) for drought monitoring. The service is sold directly to agronomy partners who resell to growers at approximately $500–$700 per field per season, with field trials demonstrating an $720 per acre net profit advantage through 8% higher yields and 23% lower input use.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Crop Dx: The RNA diagnostics platform and product system for crop health monitoring
- Yield Response Index (YRI)
- Defense Response Index (DRI)
- Water Stress Index (WSI)
- Asymptomatic Agronomy
Products and services
- Crop Dx Platform Plant RNA sequencing-based crop health monitoring platform that detects plant stress weeks before visible symptoms by analyzing coordinated gene expression patterns across approximately 39,000 genes in the crop. Delivers insights within 48 hours from leaf sample receipt through three quantified indices—the Yield Response Index (YRI), Defense Response Index (DRI), and Water Stress Index (WSI)—plus nutrient pathway and growth-vs-defense allocation analysis. Sold to agronomy firms, ag retailers, and crop advisors on a per-field-per-season recurring basis, who in turn serve corn and potato growers in North America.
Quantifiable outcome
- Detects plant disease up to 4 weeks earlier than conventional methods
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Crop Diagnostix
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Crop Diagnostix technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability3 records
Feature8 records
Crop Diagnostix partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered primary and regional.
- CHS Inc.primaryMajor agricultural retailer and cooperative distributing Crop Dx's RNA diagnostics service to growers. CHS Inc. is one of the largest agribusiness companies in North America.
- Wilbur-EllisprimaryAgricultural distributor and retailer distributing Crop Dx's RNA diagnostics service to growers across North America through its agronomy network.
- Nutrien Ag SolutionsprimaryMajor agricultural solutions provider and part of the Crop Dx partner network, distributing RNA diagnostics through its extensive agronomy service network.
- Valley AgregionalRegional agronomy firm partner providing Crop Dx service to growers in their territory.
- Basin FertilizerregionalRegional fertilizer and agronomy company partner distributing Crop Dx to growers in their service area.
- Rocky Mountain AgronomicsregionalRegional agronomy consulting firm partner offering Crop Dx RNA diagnostics to their grower clients.
- Otto AgregionalRegional agricultural services company partner distributing Crop Dx in their territory.
- North Delta BiologicalsregionalRegional biologicals and agronomy company partner offering Crop Dx diagnostics.
- Aroostook Testing and ConsultingregionalAgricultural testing and consulting firm partner, particularly serving potato growers in Aroostook County region.
- Bio Ag ManagementregionalRegional agronomy management company partner distributing Crop Dx to their grower network.
- Ag Partners CoopregionalAgricultural cooperative partner offering Crop Dx RNA diagnostics to member growers.
- Nishna Valley Crop ServicesregionalRegional crop services company partner providing Crop Dx diagnostics in their local area.
- Stukenholtz LabregionalAgricultural laboratory and consulting services partner offering Crop Dx RNA diagnostics integrated with their testing services.
- Planet Earth AgronomyregionalRegional agronomy firm partner providing Crop Dx service to growers in their territory.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Crop Diagnostix competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Pattern Ag: Pattern Ag applies genomics and soil microbiome analysis to predict pest and disease pressure before the season. Like Crop Diagnostix, it sells biological, predictive diagnostics to row-crop growers (often via agronomy partners) and emphasizes decisions made before visible symptoms — making it the closest direct peer in biology-first crop diagnostics.
- Trace Genomics: Trace Genomics uses DNA/RNA-based analytics of soil and plant material to characterize disease, nutrient, and biological risk for agronomists and growers. It is a direct peer in molecular crop diagnostics, addressing similar pathogen and nutrition questions for row-crop production.
Broad incumbents
- Taranis: Taranis offers AI-powered aerial imagery and field scouting for in-season crop health and stress detection in row crops. It competes for the same agronomist and grower wallet with a different (image-based) detection modality, targeting the same "earlier intervention" use case that Crop Dx addresses with RNA.
- Climate Fieldview (Bayer): Bayer's Climate Fieldview is the largest digital agronomy platform in North America, used by the same agronomists and growers Crop Diagnostix targets. It is a broad incumbent that could absorb or partner around biological diagnostics, and represents both a channel and a competitive threat.
- Granular (Corteva): Granular, owned by Corteva, is a farm management and agronomy intelligence platform serving large row-crop operations. It is comparable as a software + data layer that sits between agronomists and growers, competing for budget and decision-making workflows.
- Semios: Semios is a precision-ag platform focused on pest, disease, water, and frost management with sensors and predictive models, mainly in tree crops and vineyards. It is comparable as a precision agronomy platform providing in-season stress detection to growers and their agronomists.
Emerging players
- Arable Labs: Arable builds in-field sensing and analytics for crop health, weather, and irrigation decisions. It overlaps with Crop Diagnostix's water stress and overall crop health monitoring use case, using a complementary (sensor + weather) rather than RNA-based approach.
- Agremo: Agremo provides AI-driven drone and aerial imagery analytics for crop health, stand count, and stress detection. It overlaps with Crop Dx in delivering field-level stress insights to growers and advisors, with a focus on imagery-based rather than RNA-based detection.
Others
- Eurofins AgriScience Services: Eurofins is a global agricultural testing laboratory network offering soil, tissue, and molecular testing. It is comparable as the incumbent third-party testing infrastructure that agronomists and growers already use, and which Crop Diagnostix must integrate with or displace.
- Waypoint Analytical: Waypoint Analytical is a leading North American soil and plant tissue testing laboratory serving ag retailers and growers. It is comparable as a legacy diagnostics channel that partners like CHS, Wilbur-Ellis, and Nutrien already route samples through — representing both a competitor and a potential partner/white-label channel for Crop Diagnostix.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Crop Diagnostix financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Crop Diagnostix leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Crop Diagnostix funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Crop Diagnostix 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 Crop Diagnostix
What does Crop Diagnostix do?
Crop Diagnostix operates a plant RNA sequencing-based diagnostics platform that sequences and interprets gene expression across approximately 39,000 plant genes to detect crop stress from pathogens, nutrient imbalances, drought, and growth-defense allocation issues weeks before visible symptoms appear. The platform delivers three core indices—the Yield Response Index (YRI), Defense Response Index (DRI), and Water Stress Index (WSI)—with insights returned to agronomy partners within 48 hours from leaf sample receipt. The service is sold to agronomy partners on a per-field-per-season subscription basis who bundle or resell it to their grower customers.
Is Crop Diagnostix a public or private company?
Crop Diagnostix is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Crop Diagnostix founded?
Crop Diagnostix was founded in 2023. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Crop Diagnostix based?
Crop Diagnostix is headquartered in San Diego, United States, in the North America region.
How does Crop Diagnostix make money?
One revenue line is on record: per-Field RNA Diagnostics Service.
Who are Crop Diagnostix's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Pattern Ag and Trace Genomics. Broad incumbents are Taranis, Climate Fieldview (Bayer), Granular (Corteva) and Semios. Emerging players are Arable Labs and Agremo. Others are Eurofins AgriScience Services and Waypoint Analytical.
Does Crop Diagnostix have an API?
No public API is recorded for Crop Diagnostix.
What industry is Crop Diagnostix in?
Crop Diagnostix's product category is Precision Agriculture Diagnostics. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFACAKAG, Pathogen & Disease Diagnostics Services (Plant, Soil, Water), with a secondary code of AFABAMAI, Pest/Disease/Weed Detection & Forecasting Analytics. Its SIC code is 700.