Urbasense

What Urbasense does

Urbasense is a French agronomic technology company founded in 2015 and headquartered in Jouy-en-Josas (Yvelines), France, with a secondary office in Villeurbanne (Rhône). The company designs, assembles, and deploys in-house tensiometric and micro-dendrometric sensors (under the Minisense brand) that measure soil water tension and tree physiological activity in real time, transmitting data via GSM, SigFox, or LoRA networks to a dedicated management platform. Sensor readings are combined with meteorological data to generate weekly agronomic watering bulletins and recommendations.

Urbasense monetizes through a mix of recurring multi-year service contracts (sensor rental with annual maintenance and agronomic follow-up), one-time hardware purchases with optional maintenance subscriptions, and professional services including pedological diagnostics, root diagnostics, expertise, and certified installer training. Its primary customer segment is French local authorities and municipalities — over 230 cities and metropolitan areas across 7 countries in Europe and Africa, plus 2,000+ users — with secondary segments in sports field management (devices approved by the FFF and FFR), landscaping companies, and urban developers. Documented outcomes include 50-70% water savings for clients such as Brest, Bordeaux, and Pantin.

In December 2025, Urbasense was acquired by Simpliciti Group, a French digital solutions firm focused on sustainable territorial transformation, which had previously acquired GreenCityZen in 2024. The integration consolidates Urbasense with GreenCityZen to form a French water-management pole combining field agronomic expertise, sensor/IoT infrastructure, and data platforms. Research collaborations include the ANR LabCom Wakatali with IRD/UMISCO (300,000 EUR, open-source sensor design, agricultural applications in Africa) and a PhD partnership with Université de Bourgogne on micro-dendrometry combined with satellite imagery.

Name

Urbasense

Legal name

Urbasense

Website

https://urbasense.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Urbasense provides in-house tensiometric and micro-dendrometric sensors plus agronomic consulting to help European municipalities and developers optimize irrigation of urban trees and green spaces, achieving 50-70% water savings across 230+ cities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Urban Agronomy and Smart Irrigation Services

NAICS

Landscaping Services (561730), Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (221310)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Irrigation Control & Automation (Controllers, Valves, Sensors, IoT) (AFAAACAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Irrigation Scheduling & Water Optimization Analytics (AFABAMAG), Irrigation Monitoring & Sensors (Flow/Pressure Meters, Soil Moisture, Water Quality Sensors) (AFABAHAJ), Controller/Timer & Smart Irrigation Setup (Wi‑Fi, Sensors) (HSAIAEAD)

Keywords

• Agronomic irrigation monitoring
• Tensiometric soil sensors
• Urban tree monitoring
• Smart water management
• Sports turf diagnostics

Headquarters

HQ city

Versailles

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Hardware rental (Minisense sensors): Minisense sensors are rented as part of multi-year service contracts. Annual maintenance is included, covering battery replacement. The sensors are guaranteed for the entire duration of the contract.
2. Hardware sales (Minisense sensors): Sensors can also be purchased outright, with a 2-year warranty. Customers who buy can optionally subscribe to maintenance services.
3. Agronomic services and consulting: Soil diagnostics, root diagnostics, agronomic monitoring, expertise, and training services are provided as part of multi-year service contracts. Includes weekly watering bulletins and follow-up of new plantations for 2-3 years.
4. Multi-year service contracts: Hundreds of local authorities are served with multi-year contracts covering sensor monitoring, agronomic follow-up, and ongoing support for green infrastructure management.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Urbasense designs and assembles the Minisense, an in-house tensiometric IoT sensor that measures soil water tension and tree growth, and pairs it with multi-year agronomic monitoring services (weekly watering bulletins, soil and root diagnostics, sports turf performance follow-up) for municipalities, sports field managers, and landscaping professionals managing urban green infrastructure.

Product overview

Urbasense offers a comprehensive portfolio of tensiometric monitoring solutions for urban green infrastructure management. The core product is the Minisense, an autonomous wireless sensor system for measuring soil water tension and tree growth. Services include tensiometric monitoring for trees and sports fields, micro-dendrometric monitoring, pedological diagnostics, root diagnostics, and agronomic irrigation advisory. The ecosystem includes accessories (tensiometric probes, micrometric sensors, SigFox stations, water height sensors) and a dedicated management application. The company operates in partnership with Simpliciti group since December 2025, serving over 230 cities across 7 countries with more than 2,000 users.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Minisense tensiometric sensor system Autonomous wireless tensiometric sensor developed and assembled in-house by Urbasense to measure soil water tension and root growth in urban green spaces. Equipped with multi-network IoT communication (GSM, SigFox, LoRA), available for rental under multi-year contract with lifetime warranty or for outright purchase with a 2-year warranty.
• Tensiometric monitoring of young plantations

Quantifiable outcome

• Water savings of 50-70% compared to traditional watering practices
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SimpliciticoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Urbasense joined the Simpliciti group in December 2025, marking a new stage in its development. Simpliciti is a French group specializing in digital and hardware solutions for sustainable territories. The goal is to create a French leader in agronomy and optimized irrigation, combining field expertise, data, and technology (sensors/IoT, platforms, support). Simpliciti had previously acquired GreenCityZen (water resource management, smart irrigation) in 2024. The partnership consolidates this pole to create the French benchmark for water management in territories.
• IRD/UMISCOcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Wakatali is an ANR LabCom (public-private joint laboratory, equal parity) between Urbasense and IRD's UMISCO laboratory. Budget of 300,000 euros. Outputs: 2 PhDs, internships, a patent, partnerships with Biogéosciences (Université de Bourgogne), UTINAM, LIFAN, and LUCADE (Sénégal). The tensiometric sensor developed is open source, fabricable and repairable locally. The project was validated in 2021 and continues to receive FFM funding for agricultural use in Africa.
• Bouygues ImmobilierminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBouygues Immobilier supported the Nexans site garden project in Lyon, a nature, sensory, and edible garden installed on a former brownfield site. Urbasense provided tensiometric monitoring for 3 years, demonstrating 3.8-6.7°C cooling effect compared to control areas.
• InnoVegminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with InnoVeg for the supply of anecique earthworms (Lumbricidae) used in soil regeneration projects. Earthworms create galleries up to 1.5m deep, improving porosity, water infiltration, and root aeration. Used at Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris to revive compacted soils.
• Université de Bourgogne (Biogéosciences)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership within the Wakatali program. The research unit conducted a PhD (Lola Canovas) combining micro-dendrometric sensors and satellite imagery to study urban tree water stress. Results published in Science of the Total Environment.
• Source UrbaineminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSource Urbaine develops underground rainwater storage solutions that return water to plants by capillary action. Urbasense provides monitoring of installations to track real-time hydric autonomy. Collaboration at the Istres demonstrator in partnership with Colas.
• Fondation GecinaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFondation Gecina financed the two-phase study and intervention at the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris: initial soil and root diagnostics followed by earthworm implantation and other corrective actions.
• Groupe ColasminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerColas partnered with Source Urbaine to deploy a demonstrator at Istres (Smart Port Challenge) combining permeable asphalt with Source Urbaine's capillary water storage solution and Urbasense's monitoring. Colas contributed expertise in urban development and soil solutions.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• GreenCityZen: French smart irrigation and water-resource management software company now sister-company under Simpliciti Group after the 2024 acquisition; the closest direct peer since both serve municipal smart-irrigation needs with overlapping technology stacks.
• Calsense: US-based provider of smart irrigation controllers and soil-moisture-based water management specifically for municipalities, parks, and commercial landscapes; competes head-to-head with Urbasense for urban green-space irrigation budgets.
• Irrometer Company: Long-established US manufacturer of tensiometric soil-moisture sensors (the Watermark probe, which Urbasense also resells); the most direct technical peer in tensiometric measurement with overlapping irrigation-scheduling use cases.

Emerging players

• CropX: Israel-based precision irrigation and soil-sensing platform with overlapping soil-moisture sensing technology; serves agriculture primarily but increasingly expands into turf and landscape verticals where Urbasense competes.
• Sentek Technologies: Australia-based manufacturer of multi-depth soil moisture sensors with similar multi-depth profiling to Urbasense's Minisense; serves agriculture, research, and increasingly turf/landscape applications.
• Banyan Water: US smart-water management platform using soil-moisture sensors and analytics for landscape and golf-course irrigation; competes for similar commercial and municipal landscape customers with comparable IoT-plus-advisory positioning.
• Davis Instruments: US maker of weather stations and soil/leaf sensors popular with agronomists and landscape professionals; complementary product overlap with Urbasense's monitoring stack, particularly for sites needing meteorological context alongside soil data.
• Semios: Canada-based precision agriculture and irrigation-management platform using IoT sensors, weather data, and analytics; serves high-value crops and increasingly specialty landscapes with a comparable data-driven advisory model.

Broad incumbents

• Rain Bird Corporation: Global incumbent in irrigation equipment with smart controllers, soil sensors, and central control software serving municipal and commercial landscapes; competes on the broader smart-irrigation stack but lacks Urbasense's agronomic advisory depth.
• Hunter Industries: Established US manufacturer of irrigation controllers, valves, and sensors with a strong municipal and commercial landscape footprint; overlaps with Urbasense in sensor-driven smart irrigation but at a much larger scale and broader product portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@lequipeurbasense6102
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/urbasense
• Xx.com/urbasense

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Urbasense