Bugs can be, well, harmful. They can cause serious damage inside homes and buildings, and can also wreak havoc outdoors on crops and plants. The amount of chaos and calamity these little guys can cause is directly related to one factor: their numbers.
Most people don’t realize they have an insect problem until there are enough of them to cause visible damage to homes, furniture or wildlife. And by the time they do, the problem may have already become a bit heavy.
This is exactly the kind of situation Spotta hopes to avoid. Using sensors, the startup’s small devices detect early bugs so people can get rid of pests before there is an infestation.
“This is an industry that hasn’t innovated in decades,” Robert Fryers, the company’s co-founder and CEO, told TechCrunch+. “Nothing has changed. People are turning to plastic buckets and sticky paper, and technology can surely help with that. Catch it early before you need a lot of chemicals.
Spotta’s small devices draw bugs in, identify them and send images of the bugs to their users, Fryers explained. For this type of product to scale, he said, it is essential that the devices be small, inexpensive and require very little maintenance.
