BayPAT Licence Agreement with Treesense Enables Smarter Irrigation of Trees
Sep 7, 2023
Munich, September 7th 2023 – Today, BayPAT, the central IP management and commercialization agency of the Bavarian universities and universities of applied sciences, announced that it has entered into an exclusive licence agreement with Treesense GmbH. The licence agreement covers a novel method for measuring the sap flow in perennial plants, a technology developed by scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), one of BayPAT’s clients.
With a growing world population and an increased risk of droughts accompanying climate change, sustainable water management is one of the central challenges of our time. At the same time, higher temperatures increase the importance of actively ensuring a comfortable outdoor environment, especially in cities. To a significant extent this can be achieved by planting more urban trees – but how can cities ensure the young trees receive enough water to thrive, and yet not more than they need? Similarly in plantations of fruit-bearing trees, how can one balance the objective of a high yield with the overall need to save water? The outlicensed TUM technology tackles this challenge by measuring continuously and directly on the tree how much water is transported towards its branches. Together with the amount of water used to water the trees, these measurements can be used to develop an optimal irrigation plan, maximizing yield without expending unnecessary water.
Treesense is a TUM startup company founded in 2021 with the participation of several of the inventors of the technology. As a market leader in the emerging field of real-time remote tree surveillance, Treesense provides its customers with tailor-made solutions for assessing potential drought stress and the need for additional watering. For this work, the company was awarded both the “Gründungspreis+” as well as a special award for digital sustainability by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in 2022. The technology enables Treesense to further enhance its quantitative analysis, thereby consolidating its leading position in the smart-city market as well as expanding its product range and potential customer base towards smart agriculture.
“The licence agreement with BayPAT is another significant milestone for Treesense GmbH. It confirms our ambition to be a European pioneer in the digitalisation of tree management – both in urban areas and in agriculture and forestry” concludes Semir Babajić, chief executive officer at Treesense.
“The technology has the potential of saving of both water and costs. This illustrates how academic research and innovation, when partnered with far-sighted entrepreneurship, can contribute to cost-effective solutions to major societal challenges” adds Dr. Robert Phelps, managing director of BayPAT.
About BayPAT
Bayerische Patentallianz GmbH (BayPAT) is the central technology transfer agency of 33 Bavarian universities, university hospitals and universities of applied sciences with more than 25.000 associated scientists – providing industry players worldwide with a unique access to the largest technology pool in Bavaria. Under the umbrella of the Bavarian Research and Innovation Agency (BayFIA), BayPAT is a full-service technology management provider offering services covering patentability and market prospects’ evaluation, IP management and IP commercialization. Main focus areas for assessing and exploiting IP are biotechnology, chemistry, medical engineering, physics, automotive industry, energy and environment engineering, information and communication technology as well as mechanical engineering.
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Dr. Robert Phelps, Managing Director
Bayerische Patentallianz GmbH
Prinzregentenstr. 52
80538 München
Tel. +49 (0)89 54801770
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