HortPlus
HortPlus is a New Zealand agri-tech company that builds MetWatch, a weather intelligence and pest/disease decision-support platform serving commercial horticulture growers across New Zealand and Australia via a proprietary network of scientific-grade weather stations and crop-specific predictive models.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2005
- HeadquartersWellington, New Zealand
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What HortPlus does
HortPlus N.Z. Ltd is a privately held New Zealand agricultural-technology company founded in 1998 and headquartered in Wellington, with operational roots in the Hawke's Bay growing region. The company builds digital decision-support tools for the primary sector through its flagship product, MetWatch, which serves commercial horticulture growers across New Zealand and Australia. End customers include individual orchardists, viticulturists, vegetable growers, agronomists, researchers, packhouses, and risk/insurance providers handling apples, pears, stonefruit, grapes, kiwifruit, and covered crops.
MetWatch is built on a proprietary network of more than 100 scientific-grade weather stations across NZ (extended to 200+ when including integrated third-party and grower-owned stations), ingesting forecast data from MetService (NZ), the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and MET Norway. The platform layers a library of approximately 20+ crop-specific pest and disease models (Botrytis, Downy Mildew, Fire Blight, PSA-V, Codling Moth, Brown Rot, etc.), chill-unit and growing-degree-day calculators, evapotranspiration and soil moisture tracking, and a managed data quality service (drift detection, automated validation, gap-filling) on top of raw observations. An enterprise API exposes the same dataset to customer back-office systems, and the platform integrates with weather station hardware from Campbell Scientific, Metris, Harvest, Davis Instruments, Hilltop, and Ricado, plus residue testing data from AsureQuality and Hill Labs.
HortPlus operates a two-tier subscription model: a self-serve MetWatch Standard tier at NZ$150 per user per month (billed annually) and a MetWatch Enterprise tier with custom pricing, multi-user seats, API access, custom integrations, and dedicated account management. Distribution combines product-led growth (free trial via app.metwatch.nz/signup) with inside-sales-driven enterprise engagement and a channel partnership with Fruition Horticulture. The logo stack includes Woolworths, Zespri, Constellation Brands, Watties, Jingold, and several NZ industry bodies, alongside case-study customers Constellation Brands (Selaks), The Fresh Berry Company, and a third-generation Hawke's Bay orchard. The company is bootstrapped with no institutional venture funding disclosed; only small Callaghan Innovation R&D grants appear in 2020–2022. In March 2026 it appointed a new CEO, CSO, and CTO and announced positioning for growth and international expansion.
HortPlus firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- HortPlus
- Legal name
- HortPlus N.Z. Ltd
- Website
- https://hortplus.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2005
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- HortPlus is a New Zealand agri-tech company that builds MetWatch, a weather intelligence and pest/disease decision-support platform serving commercial horticulture growers across New Zealand and Australia via a proprietary network of scientific-grade weather stations and crop-specific predictive models.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
HortPlus industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Agricultural Weather Intelligence Software
- NAICS
- Support Activities for Crop Production (11511), Exterminating and Pest Control Services (561710)
- SIC
- Auto Controls For Regulating Residential & Comml Environments (3822)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Crop Scouting & Pest/Disease Detection (Digital Scouting, Computer Vision, Alerts) (AFAGALAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Early Warning, Event Monitoring & Forecasting (Extreme Weather Alerts, Nowcasting) (EUABALAJ), Environmental Monitoring, Data & Reporting (Air/Water/Soil) (BPAIAMAC)
Keywords
Where HortPlus is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Wellington
- HQ country
- New Zealand
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices2 records
Markets served
HortPlus business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- MetWatch Subscription: Monthly or annual subscription model for individual users accessing weather data, forecasts, pest and disease models. Standard tier at $150 NZD per user per month billed annually. Includes single user access, weather data and forecasts, pest and disease models, station connectivity, and email support.
- MetWatch Enterprise: Custom enterprise pricing for multi-user organizations requiring API access, data export, custom integrations, additional data source connectivity, and dedicated account management. Targets large horticultural operations and enterprise clients.
- Weather Data Services: Managed weather data services for organizations integrating weather data into research pipelines, GIS platforms, dashboards, and decision-support systems. Includes quality-checked data, API access, and station network integration.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | MetWatch Standard - Single user weather and pest/disease platform access |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | MetWatch Enterprise - Multi-user custom solution for large operations |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels9 records
HortPlus product offering
Product offeringCore offering
HortPlus builds and sells MetWatch, a subscription-based weather intelligence and decision-support platform for horticulture. The platform ingests data from a network of scientific-grade weather stations across New Zealand and combines it with crop-specific pest and disease models, chill units, growing degree days, evapotranspiration, and soil moisture analytics. Customers include individual growers (Standard tier) and larger horticultural organizations (Enterprise tier) that subscribe to access forecasts, disease risk insights, and API integrations.
Product overview
HortPlus offers a unified weather intelligence platform for horticulture called MetWatch, which serves as the core product. The platform combines weather data from over 200 stations across New Zealand with pest, disease, and crop development models to provide integrated decision support. MetWatch is available as a standard subscription ($150 NZD/user/month) for single users, while MetWatch Enterprise provides advanced features including multi-user access, API capabilities, and custom integrations for larger operations requiring enterprise-grade deployment.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- MetWatch: A digital weather, pest, and disease decision-support platform for horticulture that provides weather data, forecasts, and crop insights to help growers manage risk and optimize crop management.
Products and services
- MetWatch (Standard) Subscription-based weather intelligence platform for individual growers providing weather data and forecasts, pest and disease models (Botrytis, Downy Mildew, Powdery Mildew, Fire Blight, Codling Moth, PSA-V, etc.), chill units tracking, growing degree days, evapotranspiration, soil moisture monitoring, weather station connectivity, and email support. Priced at NZ$150 per user per month, billed annually, with a free trial available.
- MetWatch Enterprise Enterprise-grade subscription tier of MetWatch for multi-user horticultural organizations, providing all Standard features plus multi-user access, API and data export access, custom integrations, additional data source connectivity (irrigation data, residue testing, property ID systems), and dedicated account management, sold on multi-year contracts with custom pricing.
- Managed Weather Data Services Managed weather data services for organizations integrating HortPlus weather data into research pipelines, GIS platforms, dashboards, and decision-support systems, including quality-checked data, API access, and station network integration.
Quantifiable outcome
- 61% of users report increased profitability through more efficient crop management decisions
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use HortPlus
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
HortPlus technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration12 records
AI capability2 records
Feature8 records
HortPlus partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.
- MetServicecoreNew Zealand's national weather authority providing point forecasts aligned to growing regions. Primary forecast data provider for New Zealand operations.
- Bureau of Meteorology (Australia)coreAustralia's official weather service providing forecast data for Australian station locations and growing areas.
- YR / MET NorwaysecondaryGlobal forecast data from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute used to extend coverage and provide additional model perspectives globally.
- Harvest Weather StationscoreWeather station hardware provider supported by the MetWatch platform. Growers can connect Harvest stations to the managed weather network.
- Campbell ScientificcoreWeather station hardware provider supported by the MetWatch platform for scientific-grade data collection.
- MetriscoreNew Zealand-based weather station provider (Metris NZ Weather Nodes) integrated with the MetWatch platform.
- Davis InstrumentssecondaryWeather station hardware provider supported by the platform for grower-owned station connectivity.
- Hilltop Weather SystemsecondaryAdditional weather station system supported for grower station connectivity.
- AsureQualitysecondaryResidue testing data integration partner allowing users to connect residue testing data with weather and crop management insights.
- Hill LabssecondaryLaboratory testing data integration partner for residue testing data connectivity.
- Fruition HorticulturecoreStrategic channel partner representing HortPlus in the innovative horticulture company network in New Zealand. Drives distribution to industry clients.
- Bioeconomy Science InstitutecoreResearch institution with strong working relationships for scientific model development and validation. Primary scientific collaboration partner.
- University of AucklandsecondaryAcademic partner in agricultural research and data science collaboration.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
HortPlus competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- CropX: CropX is a precision agriculture platform combining soil sensors, weather data, and agronomic models to drive irrigation and crop management decisions. Highly comparable to HortPlus's MetWatch as a vertically-integrated agri-decision-support product, though CropX emphasizes soil telemetry while HortPlus leads with weather + pest/disease modeling.
- Arable Labs: Arable builds weather and crop sensing hardware plus a SaaS decision-support platform used by growers, researchers, and agribusiness. Comparable to HortPlus as a vertically-integrated weather intelligence platform for specialty crop production and research use cases.
- Sencrop: Sencrop is a European ag-tech company operating a connected weather station network with disease and crop models for farmers. Directly comparable to HortPlus in business model — owned/partnered hardware stations feeding a subscription decision-support SaaS — though focused on European row crops and viticulture.
Broad incumbents
- DTN (Agriculture): DTN is an established US-based provider of agricultural weather, market, and operational intelligence to growers and agribusinesses globally. Comparable as a weather-driven decision support platform serving commercial agriculture, though DTN operates at much broader scale across multiple commodities.
- Climate Corporation (Bayer): Climate Corporation, owned by Bayer, delivers the Climate FieldView digital agriculture platform combining weather, satellite, and agronomic data. Comparable as a broad incumbent weather + agronomy platform, with significantly deeper capital and global reach than HortPlus.
Emerging players
- Tule Technologies: Tule provides field-scale evapotranspiration and irrigation decision support from on-site sensing. Overlaps with HortPlus's ET and soil moisture features and shares a specialty-crop and California-centric customer base, making it a partial peer in the irrigation/weather decision-support category.
- aWhere: aWhere delivers agronomic weather data and predictive analytics for agriculture globally via API and SaaS. Comparable to HortPlus's Enterprise/API and weather data services tier, focused on agricultural analytics rather than owned weather station hardware.
- CropTide: CropTide is a New Zealand-based precision agriculture / digital crop management startup operating in the same geography and crop-adjacent decision-support space. Cited in HortPlus's own podcast partnership, indicating direct ecosystem overlap with NZ horticultural growers.
Others
- Davis Instruments: Davis Instruments manufactures weather station hardware that integrates into the MetWatch platform. Comparable as an ecosystem participant supplying the grower-owned hardware layer that HortPlus aggregates, rather than a direct software competitor.
- Campbell Scientific: Campbell Scientific supplies scientific-grade weather station hardware compatible with MetWatch. Comparable as an upstream infrastructure provider in the same ecosystem rather than a competing software platform.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
HortPlus social profiles
Digital presenceHortPlus financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
HortPlus leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
HortPlus funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
HortPlus 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 HortPlus
What does HortPlus do?
HortPlus builds and sells MetWatch, a subscription-based weather intelligence and decision-support platform for horticulture. The platform ingests data from a network of scientific-grade weather stations across New Zealand and combines it with crop-specific pest and disease models, chill units, growing degree days, evapotranspiration, and soil moisture analytics. Customers include individual growers (Standard tier) and larger horticultural organizations (Enterprise tier) that subscribe to access forecasts, disease risk insights, and API integrations.
Is HortPlus a public or private company?
HortPlus is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was HortPlus founded?
HortPlus was founded in 2005. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is HortPlus based?
HortPlus is headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, in the Oceania region.
How does HortPlus make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. MetWatch Subscription is the primary driver. The others are metWatch Enterprise and weather Data Services.
Who are HortPlus's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are CropX, Arable Labs and Sencrop. Broad incumbents are DTN (Agriculture) and Climate Corporation (Bayer). Emerging players are Tule Technologies, aWhere and CropTide. Others are Davis Instruments and Campbell Scientific.
Does HortPlus have an API?
Yes. MetWatch provides API access for connecting data with user systems and third-party tools. The API enables automated workflows, modelling, and product development. Enterprise tier includes API and data export access for custom integrations.
What industry is HortPlus in?
HortPlus's product category is Agricultural Weather Intelligence Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAGALAI, Crop Scouting & Pest/Disease Detection (Digital Scouting, Computer Vision, Alerts), with a secondary code of EUABALAJ, Early Warning, Event Monitoring & Forecasting (Extreme Weather Alerts, Nowcasting). Its NAICS code is 11511 and its SIC code is 3822.