Understanding trees through technology

Semir Babajić has two passions. He is a passionate football trainer and currently trains a U14 team in a district football club in his hometown Munich. But Semir Babajić is also passionate about being the CEO of TreeSense, a company that offers customers from the green sector solutions for precisely and continuously observing the water status in trees.

“We at TreeSense aim at making the world of trees more tangible, understandable and valuable for people,” says Semir Babajić. “Our mission is to develop and use state-of-the-art technologies based on the latest scientific findings to support a sustainable balance between usage by humans and conservation of the limited resources in our ecosystem.” But how exactly does this translate into action at TreeSense?

At the heart of TreeSense’s work is the development, production, and distribution of sensors for monitoring trees. The company’s most important product is the TreeSense Pulse. It allows those responsible for green areas to identify drought stress in treetops early on and therefore to implement proactive irrigation plans. TreeSense’s product portfolio contains three more sensors: one for monitoring tree growth, one for determining soil humidity, and one for recording water availability in the ground.

“Before TreeSense GmbH (Inc.) was founded in 2021, there was an intense research period at the Technical University of Munich, which is also where I studied,” Semir Babajić remembers. The company’s creative mind is Giancarlo Fodera. “He is a forestry scientist and has been working in this field since 2013. In 2019, we met as partners of today’s company.”

But why should cities, municipalities, fruit farming businesses, forestry companies and research institutes opt for a cooperation with TreeSense? Semir Babajić explains the reasons: “With our help, experts in the green sector can promote trees as a vital component of ecosystems. Our sensors allow users to efficiently collect reliable information. We support users with the evaluation and interpretation of the information and help implement strategies. This is how we can support urban, fruit, and forest trees and eventually benefit our green environment.”

TreeSense is one of the exhibitors at the joint stand Young Innovators. This area is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and can be found in Hall 3C. NürnbergMesse offers companies in the International StartUp Area special conditions for participating in GaLaBau, the leading International Trade Fair for Urban Green and Open Spaces (www.galabau-messe.com/en). The fair takes places from 11 – 14 September 2024.