08 May 2025
Climate Tech

I want to build an app to monitor farm and carbon footprint

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.


Your are here

You're entering a crowded space, categorized as a "Swamp," meaning there are already several carbon footprint tracking solutions available. Our analysis identified 12 similar products, suggesting a high level of competition. Engagement with these existing products is low, indicated by an average of just 1 comment per product launch. Unfortunately, we couldn't compute the net use and net buy signals, which makes it harder to understand the demand. The main challenge will be offering something fundamentally different and more compelling than what's already out there, as the current market landscape is filled with solutions that haven't quite captured user interest. Creating another generic solution will likely lead to the same underwhelming results, so you need a strong differentiation strategy.

Recommendations

  1. Begin by thoroughly researching why existing farm and carbon footprint monitoring solutions haven't achieved widespread adoption. Understanding their shortcomings is crucial to identifying opportunities for differentiation. Explore user reviews, industry reports, and direct feedback to pinpoint pain points and unmet needs.
  2. If you decide to proceed, focus on a specific niche within the farming or carbon footprint space. For instance, you could specialize in solutions for small-scale organic farms or concentrate on a particular type of carbon emission. Serving a specific, underserved group will make your product more relevant and easier to market. Consider geographic specialization too: are there specific regions that you could target, initially.
  3. Instead of directly competing with existing monitoring solutions, consider developing tools that integrate with and enhance their functionality. This approach could involve creating specialized reporting modules or data analysis tools that existing providers can offer to their customers. This might be a faster way into the market.
  4. Based on the existing products' criticism summaries, make sure to provide concrete examples of how your product works and its potential applications, and invest heavily into user interface adaptation based on user feedback. Address questions on methodology and system operation.
  5. Explore adjacent problems within the agricultural or environmental sector that might be more promising. For example, you could investigate solutions for optimizing resource utilization or improving supply chain transparency. Consider focusing on related problems that are less crowded and offer greater potential for innovation and impact.
  6. Given the competitive landscape and the challenges of this market, it might be wise to conserve your resources and energy for a more promising opportunity. Evaluate other potential startup ideas or projects that align with your skills and interests but offer a clearer path to success. Don't feel compelled to force an idea that faces significant headwinds.

Questions

  1. What specific, unique data points or insights can your app provide that are not already readily available through existing farm and carbon footprint monitoring solutions? How will you acquire this data reliably and cost-effectively?
  2. Considering the low engagement observed in similar product launches, what innovative strategies will you employ to generate user interest, drive adoption, and foster a thriving community around your app? How will you ensure user retention in the long run?
  3. How will you build a sustainable business model for your app, ensuring profitability and long-term viability? Will you rely on subscriptions, data sales, or other revenue streams, and how will you differentiate your pricing strategy from competitors?

Your are here

You're entering a crowded space, categorized as a "Swamp," meaning there are already several carbon footprint tracking solutions available. Our analysis identified 12 similar products, suggesting a high level of competition. Engagement with these existing products is low, indicated by an average of just 1 comment per product launch. Unfortunately, we couldn't compute the net use and net buy signals, which makes it harder to understand the demand. The main challenge will be offering something fundamentally different and more compelling than what's already out there, as the current market landscape is filled with solutions that haven't quite captured user interest. Creating another generic solution will likely lead to the same underwhelming results, so you need a strong differentiation strategy.

Recommendations

  1. Begin by thoroughly researching why existing farm and carbon footprint monitoring solutions haven't achieved widespread adoption. Understanding their shortcomings is crucial to identifying opportunities for differentiation. Explore user reviews, industry reports, and direct feedback to pinpoint pain points and unmet needs.
  2. If you decide to proceed, focus on a specific niche within the farming or carbon footprint space. For instance, you could specialize in solutions for small-scale organic farms or concentrate on a particular type of carbon emission. Serving a specific, underserved group will make your product more relevant and easier to market. Consider geographic specialization too: are there specific regions that you could target, initially.
  3. Instead of directly competing with existing monitoring solutions, consider developing tools that integrate with and enhance their functionality. This approach could involve creating specialized reporting modules or data analysis tools that existing providers can offer to their customers. This might be a faster way into the market.
  4. Based on the existing products' criticism summaries, make sure to provide concrete examples of how your product works and its potential applications, and invest heavily into user interface adaptation based on user feedback. Address questions on methodology and system operation.
  5. Explore adjacent problems within the agricultural or environmental sector that might be more promising. For example, you could investigate solutions for optimizing resource utilization or improving supply chain transparency. Consider focusing on related problems that are less crowded and offer greater potential for innovation and impact.
  6. Given the competitive landscape and the challenges of this market, it might be wise to conserve your resources and energy for a more promising opportunity. Evaluate other potential startup ideas or projects that align with your skills and interests but offer a clearer path to success. Don't feel compelled to force an idea that faces significant headwinds.

Questions

  1. What specific, unique data points or insights can your app provide that are not already readily available through existing farm and carbon footprint monitoring solutions? How will you acquire this data reliably and cost-effectively?
  2. Considering the low engagement observed in similar product launches, what innovative strategies will you employ to generate user interest, drive adoption, and foster a thriving community around your app? How will you ensure user retention in the long run?
  3. How will you build a sustainable business model for your app, ensuring profitability and long-term viability? Will you rely on subscriptions, data sales, or other revenue streams, and how will you differentiate your pricing strategy from competitors?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 12
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 1
  • Net use signal: 26.7%
    • Positive use signal: 26.7%
    • Negative use signal: 0.0%
  • Net buy signal: 0.0%
    • Positive buy signal: 0.0%
    • Negative buy signal: 0.0%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Relevance

A consumer carbon footprint tracker

24 Mar 2024 Climate Tech

This project is my foray into tech startups and developing a mobile app. A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to work on a project related to sustainability. After considering one previous idea seriously, I decided to consider a consumer carbon footprint tracker app. I looked around and did not find an app on the market that I could see myself using on a regular basis. The design that I came up with is user-friendly and one that really meets my needs for an app. The challenge is that I am not a technical person, I am just an everyday user. So, there is a lot in the user interface that needs to be adapted.The main idea behind the app is that it tracks the users' personal carbon footprint in four areas: Home Energy, Driving, Flying, and Recycling. To keep the user engaged, the leaderboard idea is intended to allow the user to communicate with their friends and family. Plus a news feature.Please let me know what you think!

Developing a user-friendly carbon footprint tracker app.

User interface needs adaptation.


Avatar
2
1
100.0%
1
2
100.0%
Relevance

Biocode - Carbon footprint calculator that makes sense

Biocode is an easy carbon footprint calculator for food brands, producers and farmers. Tackle the reporting chaos and clearly communicate your environmental values to customers!

The launch received congratulations and encouragement to connect on Twitter. A user inquired about the methodology used to measure carbon footprint and how the system operates.


Avatar
67
2
2
67
Relevance

CarbonSutra - API for estimating carbon emissions of organizations

CarbonSutra API estimates the greenhouse gas emissions for your organization. Free for non-profit and small companies, it calculates carbon footprints for air travel, hotel stays, electricity, fuel, commuting, vehicles usage, freight and ecommerce shipments.

The Product Hunt launch is being congratulated for its potential to help organizations reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Users highlight the API's value for carbon emission footprint estimation and its usefulness for developers integrating it into their solutions. The API is described as transparent, flexible, and helpful, particularly when embedded in ESG software. There's general enthusiasm for the ClimateTech platform launch and appreciation for the team's support.

The main criticism is that the product lacks sufficient examples. Users are looking for more concrete demonstrations of how the product works and its potential applications.


Avatar
69
6
33.3%
6
69
33.3%
Relevance

App and API that makes company emissions data more accessible than ever

Own Your Beliefs makes it simple for everybody to invest in the planet.It’s a web app and API that offers the best way to decarbonize a stock portfolio and makes company emissions data more accessible and transparent than ever before. Understand and act on the carbon emissions of companies and funds you have a stake in with our transparent data and easy-to-use tools.Whether you're a professional or retail investor, with just a few clicks you can analyze your portfolio's equity-financed CO2e emissions to understand opportunities for targeted action and even remove them with permanent CO2 removal. We offer the most direct and effective way to balance your investment performance with minimizing your carbon impact.We lead with transparent company emissions data front and center, making it more accessible than ever before. If you're an activist, academic, developer, concerned employee, or just somebody who is conscious about our planet: explore our data and talk to us about your use case. Join the community that believes sustainably data should be accessible to everybody.We just built this and would appreciate any feedback (or sign-ups)!


Avatar
2
2
Relevance

Platform for farmers to connect, share, and make farming productive

09 Sep 2024 Marketing

I'm happy to launch Copod. Demo https://www.loom.com/share/dc52f1ea68a04734aced86b967af3a1b?...An app for farmers and enthusiasts can connect, share, learn, and make farming productive- Sell/Buy directly from farms - Hire farming equipment/machinery - Find quality seeds/seedlings for your next projectInitial idea was to improve my parents farm but I know this can also help small scale farmers out there.Excited about this MVP and I know there is a lot to be done here.I'm taking on early signup here https://forms.gle/UdqHtYDAxz6YZxfR6I'm feeling pumped about this and I can be reached here https://x.com/gugachanzu


Avatar
1
1
Top