* Verdia Diagnostics, an early startup, is testing its disease-detecting sensors with local growers. The North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative is coordinating the effort to expedite the development of technological tools that aid farmers while supporting promising agtech entrepreneurs.

Every year, up to 40% of global food crops are lost to pests and pathogens. Plant diseases are the largest cause of crop loss and cost growers an excess of $200 billion dollars annually. Smaller harvest yields also make it harder to feed people and combat hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.

Verdia Diagnostics, a new startup company launched by an NC State University graduate and two professors, wants to reduce disease-related crop loss significantly. The company is developing sensors to help growers detect plant disease earlier than ever before. They are currently pilot-testing sensor prototypes in commercial greenhouses around North Carolina, which is part of an effort by the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative (N.C. PSI) to fast-track the development of promising agricultural technology.

"There is a lot of room for innovation in agriculture," said Zach Hetzler, Verdia Diagnostic's CEO and one of its co-founders. "It's an interesting place to be as a scientist when there is so much room for new technologies."

For a startup like Verdia Diagnostics, the timing is right. Current and impending food crises around the globe mean that advanced agricultural technology - and their enterprising, tech-savvy experts and technologists - are needed now and well into the future.

Verdia's Plant Pulse Patch is a sensor that "smells" the gas signatures that plants emit naturally called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). By detecting certain VOCs that indicate stress or pathogens, the patch can catch the onset of disease up to a week before visual symptoms appear - helping growers intervene and protect their crops before it's too late.

"There are a few emerging startups doing this new thing: early, real-time disease monitoring," said Hetzler, who is a postdoctoral researcher and a three-time NC State University alumnus. "Ours is trying to sort of 'smell' if plants have a disease. No one else is doing that."

Beta-Testing to Cut Crop Loss

Verdia's signature product is the Plant Pulse Patch, a sensor that "smells" volatile organic compounds (VOCs) - gas signatures that plants naturally emit. By sensing the presence of certain VOCs that indicate stress or pathogens, the patch can identify the onset of disease up to a week before visual symptoms appear - giving growers a critical window of time to intervene and protect their crops.

Verdia is partnering with NC Extension agents of N.C. PSI to beta-test the patch in three working greenhouses. The agents in the state counties of Montgomery, Buncombe and Randolph will install the sensors, then report the data they collect back to Verdia with feedback about what works - and what still needs improving.

NC Extension agents are plant and agricultural specialists who serve as a link between N.C. PSI and farmers and growers across the state. While they usually work with faculty, this is the first time network agents are working with an NC State-borne startup. Partnering up with an emerging startup company like Verdia Diagnostics is unique - and a benefit that's mutual.

"By bringing in their expertise earlier in the development process, we can ensure technology like Verdia's is geared toward grower needs and remains compatible with on-farm operations," said David Suchoff, the PSI Platform Director for Extension and Outreach.

"Linking up network agents - who have access to a lot of growers, relationships and expertise - with startup companies is going to accelerate innovation," Suchoff said.

NC Extension agents apply to join specific projects that align with their growers' needs. "This VOC sensor seemed like an ideal tool for agents working in greenhouses to beta-test and use for gathering preliminary field data," said Suchoff.

One of N.C. PSI's main goals is to move solutions to agricultural challenges out of the lab and into the hands of growers. NC Extension agents help accomplish this by bringing emerging technologies to the N.C. Cooperative Extension, a statewide network of growers and farmers across North Carolina. Through this exchange, growers also gain valuable workforce training in operating emerging and new technologies.

Getting technology to NC Extension agents quickly means that they can get it to farmers and growers in communities across the state faster than traditional research pipelines allow.

"Growers play a critical role as the end users, beta-testing new technologies in real farm conditions and providing valuable feedback," said Kathleen Denya, the director of innovative partnerships at N.C. PSI. "Industry partners then help scale those innovations and bring them to market."

A Supportive Research Ecosystem

Qingshan Wei, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NC State, has been developing diagnostic sensors for agricultural use for over a decade. In 2025, Wei co-founded Verdia Diagnostics with Hetzler and Yong Zhu, the Andrew A. Adams Distinguished Professor in Mechanical Engineering.

Throughout the past decade, Wei and his team have charted a steady path forward, supported by NC State's nimble and responsive research ecosystem that connects scientific discovery to commercial viability.

In 2019, Wei's early technology gained the support of the Game-Changing Research Incentive Program for Plant Sciences Initiative (GRIP4PSI). GRIP4PSI supported the development of a proof-of-concept prototype and resulting data - the kind of early validation needed to attract larger investment and move toward commercialization.

In 2023, Wei's lab was awarded federal backing through the NSF Convergence Accelerator grant. Following Verdia's formal incorporation in February 2025, the startup joined the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative's Seed2Grow Startup Program, which helps early-stage companies navigate the complex path from research to market entry. The program also helped coordinate the beta-testing in greenhouses across the state.

"We joined Seed2Grow in March [of 2025], pretty much as soon as we could get the paperwork done," said Hetzler, who holds a Ph.D. in chemical and biomolecular engineering and worked in Wei's lab.

"They've helped us push past initial roadblocks, supported our strategy, and been an excellent resource for everything from pitch preparation to understanding the complex value chains across agriculture."

The Time is Ripe for Agricultural Tech

Verdia Diagnostics was able to channel N.C. PSI's multifaceted guidance and mentorship into success on an international stage.

Last August, the Verdia Diagnostics team traveled to China for the Global AgriInno Challenge, an international pitch competition for young agricultural tech entrepreneurs. The event provides educational sessions to help teams strategize ways to commercialize their research and technology. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was a co-coordinator along with Zhejiang University and other intergovernmental and industrial organizations.

Verdia's pitch earned them third-place for the fifth Global AgriInno Challenge - the contest's most competitive year yet with over 500 applicants from 97 countries. FAO judges were so impressed by Verdia's presentation, they extended a special invitation to have them join the next pitch round in Italy.

"Being one of those teams was almost an emotional experience. It was such a huge validation," said Hetzler.

In Rome, during the Science and Innovation Forum at the World Food Forum, Hetzler competed against 12 previous winners from other global FAO events and earned Verdia second-place - and a larger platform.

"It gave us access to a global stage with people coming in from all over the world - growers, investors, diplomats and policymakers ... It was a big amplifier for our technology," said Hetzler, adding, "It's cool to win, but there's another angle: the startup is new, but so is this technology and space."

Agricultural tools that incorporate advanced, AI-supported technology are relatively new to the industry. Indeed, Verdia's upward journey to becoming a startup and gaining international recognition points to the building momentum for entrepreneurship in this area of emerging technology.

Verdia's trajectory also appears to underscore the growing urgency for agricultural innovation, influencing priorities for investors, researchers and policymakers worldwide.

"If you zoom out, we have a major problem: globally, we don't produce enough food to feed the earth now, or in the coming decades," Hetzler said.

According to the World Resources Institute, there is a significant shortfall between the amount of food we produce today and the amount needed to feed everyone by 2050. To meet the caloric demands of a growing global population, we need to scale food production by roughly 60%.

"One of the biggest "low-hanging fruit" we have to scale food production is cutting down the amount of crops lost to disease and pests."

The Plant Pulse Patch's ability to help growers cut disease-related crop losses is significant for the larger picture for global food security.

Fortunately, N.C. PSI has created a robust and responsive research environment where agricultural tech startups like Verdia Diagnostics have a better chance not only to survive but also thrive. It's an example of what a land-grant university can accomplish when its research enterprise, innovation programs and cooperative extensions strategically work together.

As the urgency around food security grows, so does the value of getting the right technologies into the field, quickly and reliably.