Apollo

Crop-disease diagnosis from a photo

Apollo is a crop-health AI. Farmers or agronomists take a photo of a plant leaf with a phone or drone, and our model instantly flags disease or stress and suggests what to do next, in the local language, on the web or via Telegram. No extra sensors or hardware needed - just the camera farms already use.

The problem

By the time crop disease or stress becomes visible, the damage is already done - by the time the farmer notices discoloration, part of the yield is already lost.

Disease is detected late and yield is lost
Early detection does not reach smallholders

The solution

A farmer or agronomist photographs a plant leaf with a phone or drone. The model flags disease or stress immediately and gives the next step in the local language.

Photo - Phone or drone camera
Diagnosis - Disease or stress is flagged
Answer - Web or Telegram, in the native language

Founders

Umarbek Umarov

Founder at Apollo

Solo founder: built the product himself and sells it himself. Apollo is an AI that detects crop health: a farmer or agronomist photographs a plant leaf with a phone or drone, the model immediately flags disease or stress and says what to do in the local language. No additional sensors or equipment are required.

Achievements

ai500 - 1st place. One of the largest AI hackathons in Uzbekistan: more than 1,300 teams took part, and the first prize of UZS 200M was funded by Agrobank. The event was organised by the Uzbekistan IT community.

Received a $20,000 grant for the project.

Technical approach

Apollo's engineering decision is the key point for investors: competitors require a set of field sensors or a satellite contract, whereas Apollo runs on cameras already present on the farm. The cost is close to zero, so the solution is not limited to large farms and reaches smallholders too.

The product works on the web and via Telegram - the shortest route to reaching farmers in Uzbekistan.

Why this market

Crop pests and diseases cause roughly $220B of damage worldwide every year. Uzbekistan's agriculture alone has millions of farmers, and most of them lack access to early disease detection. The founder is based in Samarkand - one of the country's largest agricultural regions.