Every year, up to 40% of global food crops are lost to pests and pathogens. Plant diseases are the largest cause of crop loss, costing 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’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, a postdoctoral researcher at NC State and a three-time alumnus of the university. “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 N.C. PSI’s Extension Agent Network to beta-test the patch in three commercial greenhouses. Agents in Montgomery, Buncombe and Randolph counties will install the sensors, then report the data they collect back to Verdia with feedback about what works — and what still needs improving.

N.C. PSI network agents are plant and agricultural specialists who serve as a link between 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 offers mutual benefits.

“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 N.C. 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. 

Network 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,” Suchoff said. 

A Supportive Research Ecosystem

Qingshan Wei holds up one of the plant sensors he has developed at NC State. An associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and Alcoa Scholar, Wei has been developing diagnostic sensors for agricultural use for over a decade. In 2025, Wei created Verdia Diagnostics with co-founders Zach Hetzler and Yong Zhu.

In 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, a Ph.D. graduate from Wei’s research group.

“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. The successes include awards in China at the Global AgriInno Challenge, an international pitch competition for young agricultural tech entrepreneurs and in Rome, during the Science and Innovation Forum at the World Food Forum.

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. 

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.

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

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

This is an abbreviated version of an article posted on the NC State News website.