EnterpriseWorks Graduate Acquired by Scotts Miracle-Gro

CHAMPAIGN — Scotts Miracle-Gro has announced that they have acquired PlantLink, a former student startup and EnterpriseWorks graduate.

PlantLink was developed by Oso Technologies when it began as a student startup company in Research Park in 2011. The PlantLink product was designed to make gardening easier by using sensors embedded in the plants’ soil to notify users via computer or smartphone when a plant’s water level and moisture are low. The inspiration for their first product began after the CEO Eduardo Torrealba’s wife struggled to keep a basil plant alive, and PlantLink is now helping acres of plants grow.

Since 2011, Oso Technologies has received seed funding from IllinoisVENTURES, raised $100,000 in their Kickstarter campaign, and was awarded the 2013 Innovation Celebration Student Startup Award. In late 2013, Oso Technologies graduated from the EnterpriseWorks incubator. They have also developed a smart valve add-on to water a user’s outdoor plants or lawn automatically when water levels are low and partnered with Miracle Gro in 2016 to develop the Gro application. 

Scotts plans to put more resources toward PlantLink and wants to make the products available in retail stores where other Scotts products are sold.

Read more about Scotts and PlantLink in Landscape Management or ChicagoInno.