From cancer diagnostics to soil sensors: How Stenon is chasing agriculture’s nitrogen ‘holy grail’

German agtech company Stenon, founded by Niels Grabbert, has raised €18 million to expand its rapid soil-testing technology globally. Inspired by Grabbert’s prior work on cancer diagnostics, Stenon's FarmLab device uses advanced sensors to deliver real-time soil data, particularly measuring nitrogen—crucial for optimizing fertilizer use and boosting yields. The system allows farmers to map soil needs quickly, addressing the limitations of traditional lab analysis, especially in fast-paced agricultural regions like Brazil and the US. Stenon is now developing an automated solution to further streamline large-scale data collection as it faces emerging competition in the field.