Observant
Observant provides IoT-based water monitoring and control hardware (C3+/Solo+ telemetry modules) and cloud software (Observant Global, Jain Logic) to Australian and US farmers, enabling remote irrigation, pump, soil, and weather management across pastoral and cropping operations.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2003
- HeadquartersSacramento, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Observant does
Observant, founded in 2003 in Australia and operating under the legal entity Jain Agriculture Services Australia Pty Ltd, provides IoT-based water monitoring and control solutions for the agriculture sector. The company's core offering combines proprietary hardware telemetry modules — the C3+ (up to 9 connected devices, Telstra IoT/900MHz/Ethernet connectivity) and the lower-cost Solo+ (up to 2 sensors, 4G/5G LTE-M) — with paired sensors from third-party partners (Senix ultrasonic level sensors, Sentek Drill and Drop soil probes, Davis Vantage Pro 2 weather stations) and proprietary cameras. Two software platforms, Observant Global and Jain Logic, deliver cloud-based monitoring, alerting via SMS/email/voice, irrigation scheduling, and agronomic analytics including satellite imagery (NDVI and ETc), evapotranspiration modeling, and disease pressure insights.
Observant serves pastoral livestock producers, irrigated crop farmers (cotton, wheat, sugarcane, dairy pasture, horticulture), and agricultural investment companies managing multi-property portfolios across Australia and the US. Customer outcomes cited include 50% labor cost reduction in water monitoring, 180-200 km/week travel savings for remote station managers, 9.5-month payback periods, and 10% productivity improvements from irrigation scheduling. Revenue is generated through one-time hardware sales (kits, bundles, modules, sensors) and recurring monthly software subscriptions, with quote-based pricing delivered via a nationwide Australian dealer network and direct enterprise sales; the US market is served through Jain Irrigation's Fresno, California office. Following acquisition by Jain Irrigation in 2017, the business was merged with Jain Logic and Manna Irrigation under Rivulis in April 2023 and then became part of Phytech in June 2024.
Observant firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Observant
- Legal name
- Jain Agriculture Services Australia Pty Ltd
- Website
- https://observant.net
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2003
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Observant provides IoT-based water monitoring and control hardware (C3+/Solo+ telemetry modules) and cloud software (Observant Global, Jain Logic) to Australian and US farmers, enabling remote irrigation, pump, soil, and weather management across pastoral and cropping operations.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Observant industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Agricultural IoT / Precision Irrigation Technology
- NAICS
- Farm Management Services (115116), Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)
- SIC
- Farm Machinery & Equipment (3523), Agricultural Services (700), Totalizing Fluid Meters & Counting Devices (3824)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Precision Sensing & Monitoring (Soil/Weather Stations, In-Field Sensors, IoT) (AFAGALAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- IoT Farm Sensors & Edge Devices (Soil, Weather, Crop, Water) (AFAAAFAC), Irrigation Control & Automation (Controllers, Valves, Sensors, IoT) (AFAAACAF), Connectivity & Data Infrastructure (Farm Networks, Edge Devices, Telemetry, Interoperability/APIs) (AFAGALAK), Decision Support & Agronomic Modeling (Yield, Irrigation, Pest/Disease Forecasting) (AFAAAFAF)
Keywords
Where Observant is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Sacramento
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Observant business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Hardware Sales: Sale of telemetry modules (C3+, Solo+), sensors (level sensors, soil moisture probes, weather stations, cameras), and complete kits and bundles (Tank Kits, Camera Kits, Soil Moisture Bundles, Weather Station Bundles). One-time hardware purchase model with varying warranties (1-3 years).
- Software Subscriptions: Ongoing subscription fees for access to Observant Global and Jain Logic software platforms. Subscriptions are billed monthly in advance with a minimum period of one calendar month. Automatic renewal unless 30 days notice given.
- Add-On Pack Sales: Expansion products for existing customers including Weather Station Add-On Packs, Camera Add-On Packs, Level Sensor Add-On Packs, and Rain Gauge Add-On Packs to expand monitoring capabilities at existing sites.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Hardware Products (Kits, Bundles, Modules, Sensors) |
| Subscription | Monthly | Software Platforms (Observant Global, Jain Logic) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels12 records
Observant product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Observant provides an integrated IoT-based farm water management platform that combines proprietary telemetry hardware (C3+ and Solo+ modules plus plug-in sensors for water level, soil moisture, weather, flow, pressure, and cameras) with two cloud software platforms (Observant Global for remote monitoring/control and Jain Logic for agronomic analytics and irrigation recommendations). Customers purchase pre-configured kits/bundles or telemetry modules and pay ongoing software subscriptions to access data, alerts, and automation features via web and mobile apps.
Product overview
Observant provides an integrated farm water management platform combining hardware telemetry modules (C3+ and Solo+) with two software platforms (Observant Global and Jain Logic). The product architecture follows a kit/bundle model where pre-configured packages (Tank Kit, Camera Kit, Soil Moisture Bundle, Weather Station Bundle) serve as starting points, expandable through add-on packs (Camera, Weather Station, Level Sensor, Rain Gauge). The C3+ module supports up to 9 connected devices while the Solo+ covers up to 5 devices. Software platforms handle data visualization, alerts and automation, with Jain Logic offering deeper agronomic insights and irrigation recommendations. Solutions cover the full water management cycle: level monitoring, image capture, soil moisture, weather, pump control, flow/pressure monitoring, and irrigation scheduling.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Observant Global: A platform for remote management and control of farm equipment, accessible from mobile devices, tablets, or computers for monitoring pasture, livestock, and controlling irrigation systems.
- Jain Logic
Products and services
- Observant Global
Quantifiable outcome
- 50% labor cost reduction for water monitoring
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Observant
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Observant technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration8 records
AI capability5 records
Feature8 records
Observant partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and supporting.
- PhytechcoreIn June 2024, Observant became part of Phytech, a global AgTech leader connecting growers to their plants using advanced sensing technology. This acquisition brought Observant under Phytech's global platform while maintaining its brand identity in the Australian market.
- RivuliscoreObservant, Jain Logic, and Manna Irrigation merged to become one company under Manna Irrigation, part of Rivulis. This merger combined three major AgTech platforms into a unified global irrigation and water management company.
- Jain IrrigationcoreJain Irrigation, Inc. acquired the technology and core team of Observant Pty Ltd. The acquisition combined Observant's broad field monitoring and control technology with Jain's global irrigation manufacturing and precision agriculture technology platform.
- TelstracoreObservant's C3+ telemetry module utilizes Telstra's IoT Network for cellular connectivity, providing wide coverage across Australia for remote farm monitoring applications.
- GallagherminorGallagher is a GlobalLink Partner whose i-Series Data Controller allows farmers to control electric fences from smartphones and receive SMS alerts using Observant Global. The partnership extends Observant's ecosystem into livestock management.
- Davis InstrumentscoreDavis Instruments provides the Vantage Pro 2 Weather Station included in Observant's Weather Station Bundle and Add-On Pack, offering high-accuracy monitoring of wind, rainfall, solar radiation, humidity, and evapotranspiration.
- SentekcoreSentek provides the Drill and Drop soil moisture probes included in Observant's Soil Moisture Bundle, enabling multi-depth soil moisture and temperature monitoring in agricultural applications.
- SenixcoreSenix provides the Ultrasonic Level Sensor included in the Level Sensor Add-On Pack, offering contactless water level measurement accurate to within 4mm for tanks, dams, and channels.
- Open Ag Data AlliancesupportingObservant implemented its API based on Open Ag Data Alliance standards, providing secure access to farm data managed on Observant Global platform for integration with other agricultural applications under grower control.
- Farms of the FuturesupportingNSW government program where Observant participates as a partner, listing products available for purchase through the grant scheme to help farmers adopt technology.
- Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA)supportingMLA provided funding for Eric Harvey at Gilgai Farms to install Observant monitoring solutions, demonstrating industry support for technology adoption in Australian agriculture.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Observant competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Tule Technologies: Tule provides field-scale irrigation analytics combining ET modeling and soil-moisture sensing, primarily for specialty crops. Comparable to Observant's Jain Logic platform in delivering irrigation scheduling recommendations from sensor data.
- Semios: Semios offers an IoT precision-agriculture platform combining in-field sensors, weather data, and decision-support for tree crops and large-acre operations. Comparable to Observant in serving irrigation scheduling and crop-monitoring use cases across multi-property customers.
- CropX: CropX provides IoT soil sensors and a cloud agronomic platform for irrigation and nutrient decisions. Directly comparable to Observant's C3+ Soil Moisture Bundle and Jain Logic agronomic analytics across global cropping customers.
- AquaSpy: AquaSpy manufactures multi-depth soil-moisture and salinity probes with cloud analytics for irrigation management. Directly comparable to Observant's Sentek Drill-and-Drop based soil-moisture solution.
Others
- Davis Instruments: Davis Instruments supplies the Vantage Pro 2 weather stations used in Observant's Weather Station Bundle. As an enabling technology provider, Davis represents an adjacent ecosystem peer with overlapping weather-monitoring applications.
- Sentek: Sentek supplies the Drill and Drop soil-moisture probes that Observant integrates. Although a partner rather than competitor, Sentek's standalone probe business overlaps directly with Observant's soil-moisture solution footprint.
Broad incumbents
- Phytech: Global AgTech leader in plant-based sensing; Observant's parent since June 2024. Highly comparable sensor-and-analytics architecture, broader international footprint, and now the strategic platform to which Observant's Australian business contributes.
- Trimble Ag: Trimble's agriculture division provides precision-farming software, connectivity, and water-management solutions across large-acre operations. Comparable to Observant in farmer-facing data platforms, with significantly broader enterprise reach.
- Valmont Industries (Valley Irrigation): Valley Irrigation is a leading center-pivot manufacturer with AgSense-based remote monitoring. A broad incumbent in the same irrigation-automation space as Observant, with deeper dealer networks and bundled hardware sales.
- Lindsay Corporation (FieldNET): Lindsay's FieldNET platform provides remote pivot irrigation control and scheduling. Overlaps with Observant's irrigation scheduling and pump-management solutions, particularly across US irrigated agriculture customers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Observant social profiles
Digital presenceObservant financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Observant leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Observant funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Observant 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 Observant
What does Observant do?
Observant provides an integrated IoT-based farm water management platform that combines proprietary telemetry hardware (C3+ and Solo+ modules plus plug-in sensors for water level, soil moisture, weather, flow, pressure, and cameras) with two cloud software platforms (Observant Global for remote monitoring/control and Jain Logic for agronomic analytics and irrigation recommendations). Customers purchase pre-configured kits/bundles or telemetry modules and pay ongoing software subscriptions to access data, alerts, and automation features via web and mobile apps.
Is Observant a public or private company?
Observant is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Observant founded?
Observant was founded in 2003. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Observant based?
Observant is headquartered in Sacramento, United States, in the North America region.
How does Observant make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Hardware Sales are the primary driver. The others are software Subscriptions and add-On Pack Sales.
Who are Observant's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Tule Technologies, Semios, CropX and AquaSpy. Others are Davis Instruments and Sentek. Broad incumbents are Phytech, Trimble Ag, Valmont Industries (Valley Irrigation) and Lindsay Corporation (FieldNET).
Does Observant have an API?
Yes. Observant offers an OpenLink API based on Open Ag Data Alliance (OADA) standards. This API provides secure access to data managed on the Observant Global cloud management platform. Field level data collected by Observant's hardware can be accessed by other applications via the API under the complete control of the grower. OpenLink Partners can access the API to provide services to end users. The API allows sharing data with third parties who support OpenLink integration, with data remaining private until the grower grants access.
What industry is Observant in?
Observant's product category is Agricultural IoT / Precision Irrigation Technology. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAGALAB, Precision Sensing & Monitoring (Soil/Weather Stations, In-Field Sensors, IoT), with a secondary code of AFAAAFAC, IoT Farm Sensors & Edge Devices (Soil, Weather, Crop, Water). Its NAICS code is 115116 and its SIC code is 3523.