Koubachi

Koubachi AG originated as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in May 2009. The company was founded by Dr. Philipp Bolliger, who drew upon his academic work at ETH Zurich to pioneer applications for the Internet of Things (IoT) in the home and garden sector. Dr. Bolliger holds a Ph.D. in Distributed Systems and a Master's degree in Computer Science from ETH Zurich, with an academic focus on ubiquitous computing, which formed the technical foundation for Koubachi's products. The firm focused on developing technology to simplify plant and garden care for consumers.

The core of Koubachi's business was a cloud-based plant care system. This system was composed of physical Wi-Fi-enabled plant sensors, a comprehensive plant library, and a mobile application. The sensors, available in indoor and outdoor versions, measured key environmental variables such as soil moisture, temperature, and light intensity. This data was transmitted to Koubachi's cloud servers, where proprietary algorithms—based on plant models developed by biologists at ETH Zurich—would analyze it. The system considered the specific plant species, geographical location, and season to provide the user with precise care instructions, such as when and how much to water or fertilize, via notifications on a smartphone app. The business model involved the direct sale of these sensors to consumers and licensing its cloud technology to other manufacturers, such as an agreement made with sensor producer Sensirion in 2014.

A significant milestone in the company's history was its acquisition by the Husqvarna Group on July 15, 2015. Following the acquisition, Koubachi and its team, including founder Philipp Bolliger, were integrated into Husqvarna's Gardena Division. The Zurich office was maintained as an innovation and development site for Gardena's own smart garden concept, which launched in 2016, connecting automated watering with robotic lawn mowing. After the acquisition, Koubachi ceased to sell its own branded products as its technology was incorporated into the Gardena smart system.

Keywords: smart garden, plant care, IoT, soil sensor, garden automation, ETH Zurich spin-off, plant care app, smart watering, home automation, Husqvarna Group, Gardena Division, Philipp Bolliger, cloud-based plant care, Wi-Fi plant sensor, plant monitoring, horticulture technology, automated irrigation, environmental sensors, mobile plant management, consumer electronics