TerraBlaster raises $12.5m to map soil nutrients in real time with Mars rover laser technology
TerraBlaster closed a $12.5m seed round on 25 August 2026 for a towed laser sensor that maps soil pH and NPK at 0.15-acre resolution while a tractor moves.
Photo by dayong tien on Pexels
California-based TerraBlaster announced a $12.5 million seed round on 25 August 2026 to commercialise real-time soil nutrient mapping using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, the same measurement technique deployed on NASA’s Mars rovers. Ulu Ventures led the round, with Khosla Ventures, Trailhead Capital, Builders Vision, Bidra, Ag Startup Engine, Reservoir, Sunna, Plug and Play, GrainInnovate and the Hort Innovation Venture Fund managed by Artesian also participating, according to AgFunderNews. The round follows a $4 million pre-seed closed in 2025 and takes cumulative funding to $16.5 million. Ulu Ventures partner Steve Reale joins the board.
The company’s first product, the Blaster 1000, is a towed unit that opens a shallow trench and fires a high-energy laser pulse that vaporises a pinpoint of soil into plasma. As the plasma cools it emits light at element-specific wavelengths, and a spectrometer reads that spectral fingerprint. The cycle repeats around 20 times a second, to a depth of about six inches, with roughly 100 readings averaged over 80 feet and reported as a single point. Co-founder and board member Pablo Sobron developed LIBS instrumentation for NASA, the Canadian Space Agency and SETI before the company adapted it to soil.
What real-time soil nutrient mapping changes about resolution
The claimed advantage is spatial density rather than a new measurement. TerraBlaster maps at 0.15 acres, which the company describes as “an area of about 80 feet by 80 feet, which matches the working width of application equipment already in the field”, against the 2.5-acre grids typical of lab-based sampling. The company’s press release puts that at about 16 times higher resolution, with results in seconds rather than days. Output is written to .shp and .csv for existing variable-rate application workflows.
| Attribute | Blaster 1000 | Conventional grid sampling |
|---|---|---|
| Grid resolution | 0.15 acre, about 80 by 80 feet | 2.5 acre (typical) |
| Turnaround | Seconds, in the field | Days, via laboratory |
| Sampling depth | About 6 inches | Varies by protocol |
| Depth reporting | Six one-inch layers plus a 0 to 6 inch composite | Composite sample |
| Sampling rate | About 20 readings per second | Discrete cores |
Source: TerraBlaster press release and product page, 25 August 2026; comparison figures are the company’s own.
The unit reports each nutrient in six one-inch layers from 0 to 1 inch down to 5 to 6 inches, plus a standard 0 to 6 inch composite. Its published measurement list covers phosphorus, potassium, pH and buffer pH, organic matter, cation exchange capacity, texture, nitrate and ammonium nitrogen, moisture, total nitrogen, total carbon, total organic carbon, and micronutrients including zinc, copper, boron, manganese, sulphur, calcium, magnesium, iron, sodium and aluminium, reported in parts per million. Chief executive Jorge Heraud states that “we’ve shown that our measurements are as accurate as a traditional soil lab”, though no third-party trial data or peer-reviewed field results have been published.
Economics are company estimates, not trial results
TerraBlaster’s press release puts combined benefits at up to $45 per acre: about $10 per acre saved on soil lab and labour costs, and about $35 per acre in additional yield, modelled on $5 corn and $12 soybeans. It adds that “within the most deficient areas, yield gains can reach 20%”. Every one of these figures is the company’s own estimate. The prices underlying the $35 are stated assumptions rather than current market prices, and the yield claim applies to corn and soybeans; the company has separately described open field crops such as corn, soy, wheat and some vegetables as its target, and excludes drip-irrigated crops.
| Claimed benefit | Amount per acre | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced soil lab and labour cost | about $10 | Company estimate |
| Increased yield | about $35 | Company estimate at $5 corn and $12 soybeans |
| Combined | up to $45 | Company estimate |
| Yield gain in most deficient zones | up to 20% | Company estimate |
Source: TerraBlaster press release, 25 August 2026, as carried by Precision Farming Dealer.
Timing has moved. In May 2026 AgFunderNews reported the company aiming for a late-2026 launch. The August announcement sets demonstrations with growers and retailers across the Midwest this autumn, pre-sales opening in the same period, first systems delivered in spring 2027 and commercial operations in 2027. An integrated measure-and-apply system is planned for testing in 2028. Heraud has said: “The system we are starting to sell in 2027 measures nutrients only but we plan to test an integrated measure and apply system in 2028.” Operating speed is currently 5 mph according to AgFunderNews, with the company’s product page listing up to 6 mph; the target is 10 mph in the near term and up to 20 mph with a narrower probe. Hardware pricing is not final. The company employs 10 people between Menlo Park and Iowa.
Heraud co-founded Blue River Technology, which Deere & Company agreed to acquire for $305 million on 6 September 2017, and afterwards served as vice president of automation and autonomy at John Deere; earlier he was director for precision agriculture at Trimble Navigation. Co-founder and chief technology officer Matt Colgan spent 18 years on sensors and algorithms for plant and soil properties, including Blue River’s See & Spray. TerraBlaster rebranded from SoilCode around May 2025; its founding year is not published.
Where the round sits in soil-sensing funding
Real-time soil sensing has drawn steady investment without a category winner emerging. Comparable rounds over the past five years:
| Company | Amount | Round | Date | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TerraBlaster | $12.5m | Seed | 25 Aug 2026 | Ulu Ventures |
| Stenon | about $20.5m (EUR 18m) | Series B | 1 Jul 2026 | Pymwymic |
| EarthOptics | $24m | Financing | 19 Nov 2024 | Conti Ventures |
| ChrysaLabs | $11m | Series A | 10 May 2023 | Not named |
| EarthOptics | $27.6m | Series B | 18 Jan 2023 | Conti Ventures |
| Stenon | $20m | Series A | Dec 2021 | Founders Fund and The Production Board |
Sources: company announcements as linked; AgFunderNews for TerraBlaster.
The round lands in a flat market. AgFunder’s Global AgriFoodTech Investment Report 2026 put global agrifoodtech funding at $16.2 billion in 2025, level year on year, with deal count down 12 per cent; upstream startups drew $9 billion, up 7 per cent. The report also found deeptech’s share of agrifoodtech deals rising to 32 per cent from 22 per cent over the decade, with seed-stage deeptech rounds closing at a 78 per cent premium over non-deeptech equivalents, though the premium disappears from Series B onward. Heraud commented on the environment: “So I am of the thinking that a down cycle is sometimes where the biggest and best opportunities end up being funded.”
The underlying case for finer nutrient maps rests on how much fertiliser US row-crop agriculture applies. The EPA’s Report on the Environment records US per-acre nutrient use rising from 46.2 lb per acre per year in 1960 to a peak of 146 lb in 2004, standing at 136 lb in 2015, with nitrogen alone rising from 17.0 lb to a 2013 peak of 83.6 lb per acre. Corn, cotton, soybeans and wheat make up around 60 per cent of principal crop acreage and take more than 60 per cent of the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium used in the country.
Winss Solutions has covered adjacent agtech deals, including Mitti Labs raising $9.5m for AI rice farming technology and EarthOptics’ soil carbon partnership with cQuester.
About TerraBlaster
TerraBlaster develops laser-based soil measurement hardware for row-crop agriculture and operated as SoilCode before rebranding around May 2025. Its founding team combines agricultural robotics and space instrumentation: chief executive Jorge Heraud co-founded Blue River Technology and led automation at John Deere, chief technology officer Matt Colgan worked on Blue River’s See & Spray sensing, and board member Pablo Sobron built LIBS instruments for NASA, the Canadian Space Agency and SETI. The company closed a $4 million pre-seed in 2025 led by Khosla Ventures, with Trailhead Capital, OCP Group’s venture arm Bidra and The Reservoir. It employs 10 people across Menlo Park and Iowa.
Its go-to-market runs through row-crop growers and the retailers and agronomists who serve them, starting in the Midwest and expanding across North America. With the seed round closed, the near-term test is whether autumn field demonstrations reproduce the lab-equivalent accuracy the company claims, ahead of first deliveries in spring 2027.
Sources: AgFunderNews; Precision Farming Dealer; TerraBlaster; AgFunderNews; Deere & Company via PR Newswire; AgFunderNews, Global AgriFoodTech Investment Report 2026; US Environmental Protection Agency, Report on the Environment; Stenon; EarthOptics; ChrysaLabs
Featured image: photo by dayong tien on Pexels (free Pexels license).
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I specialize in sustainability education, curriculum co-creation, and early-stage project strategy. At WINSS, I craft articles on sustainability, transformative AI, and related topics. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me chasing the perfect sushi roll, exploring cities around the globe, or unwinding with my dog Puffy — the world’s most loyal sidekick.
