Irrigreen, the developer of a smart sprinkler system that uses inkjet printing technology to irrigate landscaping, secured $15 million in seed financing from Ulu Ventures, Sage Hill Investors, Burnt Island Ventures, MFV Partners, Anorak Ventures, Echo River Capital, Tamiami, Catalyst Innovation Lab and Sum Ventures.

According to Irrigreen, customers use approximately 50 percent less water compared to conventional technology and can save about 50 percent on outdoor water bills annually.

“While landscapes consume a lot of water, they contribute to quality of life and even help keep our cities cool. Finding ways to keep our surroundings green while using less water is a massive opportunity,” said Kathy Chen, partner at Ulu Ventures and Irrigreen board member.

The 411 on the Irrigreen system

Irrigreen said its web design tool helps customers design a smart sprinkler system to match a yard’s exact shape and contour and show potential water savings. It can also simulate spraying angles around obstacles to ensure the entire yard is covered. This tool gives homeowners the power to automate and streamline their irrigation design without using expensive professional software or finding and hiring designers.

Irrigreen said it uses a patent-pending nozzle design to eliminate wasteful overlap. Each digital sprinkler head replaces up to 10 mechanical heads from traditional systems and is configured with the Irrigreen app to trace the contours of the landscaping. Irrigreen said its system uses 80 percent less underground piping and eliminates valves and wiring.

The Irrigreen system matches each landscape’s specific precipitation needs (including water volume and when water should be applied) based on live integrations with weather data that feed into software on each sprinkler head.