New AI Start-Up, Plantista, Launching Crowdfund to Make Firewise Landscaping Available to Everyone
AI technology start-up focused on the "green industry" launches waitlist to join their crowdfund campaign to build a model to protect homes and properties from wildfires using plants.
DENVER, May 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- With the start of wildfire season, Plantista - a new AI start-up out of Denver - announced they will be launching a crowdfund campaign to fund the development of a Firewise Landscape AI model, in collaboration with fire, plant and design experts.
Firewise landscaping—also called defensible space landscaping—is a method of designing yards and gardens to reduce the risk of wildfire damage to homes and properties by:
- Creating Defensible Space:
By establishing zones around the home (typically 0–5 feet, 5–30 feet, and 30–100+ feet), Firewise landscaping reduces fuel for fires close to structures and slows the fire's approach. - Using Fire-Resistant Plants:
Plants with high moisture content, low resin/sap, and non-woody stems are less likely to ignite and help slow fire spread. - Breaking Up Fuel Continuity:
Spacing between plants, using rock or gravel beds, and strategic pruning prevent flames from traveling easily from one plant to another or from plants to structures.
And more.
By reducing the available fuel and improving the buffer zone around structures, Firewise landscaping significantly lowers the risk that a wildfire will ignite or destroy a home. However, the additional rules make developing an AI Firewise model more challenging than a traditional landscape model.
While Firewise landscaping is not a new concept, it has traditionally only been available to those who are able to find and pay for a landscape professional who is trained in this type of design. By partnering fire, plant and design experts with a team of AI engineers, Plantista's goal of the campaign is to democratize access to Firewise landscaping for all.
The campaign is anticipated to launch in the coming week on popular crowdfunding platform, Indiegogo with exclusive perks available to funders. One of these perks will be access to Plantista's current Custom AI Landscape Design tools that enable you to upload a photo and design a location-specific landscape - whether that's Xeriscape, Pollinator, or Native - in 15 to 30 seconds with common plants available in your area.
"As an alum of UCLA Anderson, the Los Angeles-area wildfires - and the destruction they brought - hit very deeply for me. It was devastating to see so many homes destroyed and I couldn't stop thinking about how Plantista could help. By bringing together our community to help build an AI Firewise Landscape model - in collaboration with fire, design and plant experts - we would be able to help preventatively for future fires, which is what excited us most." Said Ashley Wright, Plantista co-founder and CEO.
Plantista launched their waitlist today where anyone can sign up to receive alerts and exclusive early access to perks when the campaign launches.
You can join the waitlist here: https://indiegogo.plantista.ai/
And view their launch video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk49xXLyJA0&t=157s
About Plantista
Founded in 2024 by Ashley Wright (Denver, CO) and Alex Tandy (Moraga, CA), Plantista is an AI technology start-up that is passionate about bringing AI to the green industry - including garden centers and landscape designers. With an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding in October of 2024, they have primarily boot-strapped their growth with tools only available today through their handful of garden center and landscape design partners. Their mission is to be the comprehensive platform for the green industry to seamlessly grow revenue, scale customer experience, and streamline operations; as well as build the tools for the next generation of plant parents. You can find them at plantista.ai.
SOURCE Plantista
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