SoliDrip’s driven team and breakthrough technology are the perfect matches for Highroad Launchpad. Together, their joint vision of making urban environments a better place is becoming reality.

City life as we know it has changed a great deal over the years. Nearly all countries of the world are undergoing a continuous urbanization process, leading over half of the global population to live in what can be considered urban areas. As this process continues to expand its reach, the balance of sustainable development and urban growth must be maintained, with respect to each city’s economic, social, and environmental needs.

How can this balance be achieved? 

SoliDrip, an innovative urban greening startup and a Highroad Launchpad portfolio company, has made it its mission to attain this goal, by leveraging its breakthrough irrigation technology to enable easier, more cost-effective, and much more efficient growing methods of green areas.

The challenge: Make concrete jungles bloom

“It all started with the challenge of giving a solution for a problem no one has solved,” says SoliDrip’s Co-founder and CEO, Gad Marton. He explains that today’s urban green spaces are, more often than not, watered using unsuitable agriculture technologies, mainly those designed to provide the same amount of water to each plant and at the same time. However, urban green spaces tend to be much smaller than the agriculture areas these technologies were created for, and characterized by a variety of plants and planting methods, under fluctuating environmental conditions. 

“Each plant requires a specific amount of water at different times and frequencies, based on a series of  factors, such as type of plant, rate of growth, relative humidity, and planting method (pots, beds, planters, ground etc)” Marton explains. “Giving each plant the optimal amount of irrigation at any time, automatically adjusted to any environmental condition,” served as the motivating factor behind the startup’s establishment. 

The solution: simple, personalized, on-demand care

Unlike drip irrigation technologies in use today, which, much like a watering assembly line, are based on the concept of providing the exact amount of water to each plant at the exact same time, the SoliDrip solution, provides water to each individual plant based on the moisture level in the soil, at any given time. Installed at the roots of each plant, the SoliDrip mechanical device mechanism leverages physics and material engineering principles to act as an artificial root system and turn on or shut off the irrigation system according to the plants’ individual hydration needs. 

“While standard drip irrigation solutions result in clean water wastage, water runoff damages, high maintenance costs, high plant mortality rate, and limited plant diversity, SoliDrip’s 100% autonomous, patented mechanical water valve system provides the optimal amount of water each plant needs, when it needs it, saving a substantial amount of clean water, preventing water runoff, and reducing maintenance costs,” Marton proudly proclaims. This, regardless of the planting method, plant growth rate, or any changes to the urban garden’s environmental conditions.

What’s more, as the SoliDrip system requires zero maintenance, it can easily be installed and maintained by virtually anyone – from busy homemakers to amateur gardeners. There is no need for an electric power supply or batteries, making it easier than ever for everyone, everywhere, to make their urban gardens bloom. 

The partner: Highroad Launchpad

Armed with a vision to become the standard water irrigation platform for urban green space, expand urban green lungs, and enable easier, more cost-effective, and much more efficient growing methods of green areas, SoliDrip applied and was accepted to Highroad Launchpad’s most recent accelerator cohort. 

“We found Highroad to be a real partner with a deep understanding of the urban environmental challenges, and we share the same vision of making our cities a better place. The support Highroad provides to us, its startup portfolio, has really boosted our activity in many aspects,” Marton says.

In just a short period of time, Highroad has enabled SoliDrip to “improve our storytelling and presentation. We have been introduced to various types of investors, giving us a chance to deliver our pitch and gain valuable feedback. We’ve also gained follow-up meetings with investors presenting real fundraising opportunities,” he explains.

The future: Where will SoliDrip’s roadmap lead?

Marton defines SoliDrip’s immediate goals as follows: to raise money and to launch their first product in the market. “We plan to establish a global distribution channel and generate significant revenues in 2021,” he concludes, highlighting the connections and networking opportunities with innovators and potential investors made possible by Highroad as instrumental in achieving these milestones. “Together, our technology can reach the hands of urban dwellers in more cities and support gardens at any scale, outdoor and indoor.”

Do you have an innovative idea to improve the quality of urban living? Contact Highroad about joining its next Launchpad cohort, today!