Spotta

Spotta is a Cambridge-based company tackling the costly issue of insect pests, a problem estimated to cause over $500 billion in economic damage annually across various sectors. Founded in 2018 by CEO Robert Fryers and Neil D'Souza-Mathew, the company emerged from the founders' extensive experience in developing advanced, low-power sensing technologies for demanding fields like Formula 1 and medical implants. Recognizing that the pest control industry had seen little technological advancement for decades, they redirected their expertise to create an automated, real-time insect monitoring platform.

The core of Spotta's business is its smart pest system, which moves the industry from a reactive to a proactive model. This system utilizes proprietary Internet of Things (IoT) hardware combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect and identify insects early. The company's flagship product for the hospitality sector is the 'Bed Pod', a discreet device placed in hotel rooms to provide 24/7 monitoring for bed bugs. When a pest is detected, the system sends an alert with the location and a photo to hotel staff, enabling swift, targeted intervention before an infestation can escalate and impact guests. This service has proven effective, reducing guest encounters with bed bugs in client properties to just 3.3%. Trusted by major hotel brands like Marriott and Radisson, Spotta's solution helps protect reputations and reduce the significant costs associated with infestations.

The business model is primarily service-based, with hotels charged a small fee per device per night. Spotta also operates through a reseller program, partnering with pest control and hygiene service companies in the UK, Europe, and North America to distribute its technology. Beyond hospitality, the company's adaptable platform is deployed in agriculture and forestry. It provides monitoring solutions for pests like the Red Palm Weevil, which devastates date palm plantations, and is developing systems to detect insects that threaten horticultural crops. This approach not only prevents economic losses but also supports sustainability by enabling targeted treatments, thereby reducing widespread pesticide use. To fuel its global expansion, Spotta has secured significant venture capital, including a $3.8 million Series A round in late 2023.

Keywords: pest detection, IoT sensors, bed bug monitoring, smart pest management, hospitality technology, agriculture technology, forestry pest control, Robert Fryers, Neil D'Souza-Mathew, proactive pest control, computer vision pests, Red Palm Weevil, sustainable pest management, AI pest detection, automated insect monitoring, UK startup, Cambridge tech, hotel pest solutions, crop protection technology, investment venture capital