Ichora is building cold plasma seed treatment machines for the farmers who need it most. One quick treatment means stronger crops, for a lifetime.
→ See how it worksBy 2050, there will be 9.6 billion of us — and we'll need to grow 50–70% more food to feed everyone. At the same time, the planet is losing fertile soil to degradation, flooding, erosion, and urban sprawl.
Food insecurity isn't a problem waiting for us in the future. It's already here — concentrated in Central Africa and Southeast Asia, where small-scale farmers are battling conditions their seeds were never built for.
Ichora uses cold plasma seed treatment — a proven, non-thermal process that etches microscopic openings in the seed coat, letting water in and roots out. The result: faster germination, stronger plants, deeper roots, and built-in resistance to drought and disease.
Dormant. Coat impermeable. Slow to absorb water.
Non-thermal plasma etches microscopic pores in the coat.
Faster germination, deeper roots, drought resilience.
One short treatment lasts the full lifetime of the plant. No chemicals added to the soil. No recurring cost to the farmer. We're turning this science into something a farmer can actually use — our next-generation prototype runs on compressed ambient air, with no helium, no specialty gases, and no recurring cost. A low-cost treatment module designed for off-grid communities, and a true alternative to fertilizer: a one-time boost that works with nature instead of flooding soil with chemicals.
From raw seed to field-ready, the Ichora treatment is simple enough for a smallholder to run and powerful enough to change a harvest.
Farmers place untreated seeds into the module's treatment chamber.
An electrical arc ionizes compressed ambient air into cold plasma.
Seeds are exposed for a few minutes — the plasma etches microscopic pores in the seed coat.
Seeds go in the ground and grow stronger, faster, and more drought-resistant.
What started as a curiosity in a garage is now a working prototype. We built our first cold plasma generator for under $100 using accessible, off-the-shelf parts — and then we put it to work.
We've since expanded to rice, corn, and beans, with more trials underway. We're currently building out the ambient-air version of the system.
We're grade 12 students from Ottawa, Canada — engineers, biologists, designers, and builders — united by one stubborn belief: that a simple idea, executed well, can reach the people who need it most.
Founder of several small businesses and veteran of an electrical engineering internship. Designs circuits from whatever parts he can get his hands on.
Gardener since age four. Incoming biochemistry & neuroscience student at Columbia. Runs our seed trials and leads outreach to NGOs and agricultural agencies abroad.
2026 Schulich Leader nominee. Has founded multiple startups and is training for his private pilot's license. Handles administration, finance, and software.
Project management chops from a past startup, a closed-loop wind tunnel build, and leading a yearbook team. Keeps the team on track and on budget.
Lifelong builder with a background in AI, plus work across electrical, mechanical, and software projects. Endurance cyclist on the side.
Imagine a world where plants grow faster and stronger at almost no cost — where a harvest that once depended on luck depends on a five-minute treatment instead.
Within a decade, we imagine cold plasma being used by millions of farmers. We imagine food that was once a luxury becoming a commodity. We imagine fewer pesticides in the soil, less fertilizer in the rivers, and less land cleared to feed the same number of people.
And we imagine Ichora out in the field — in the villages and smallholder plots that need it most — helping communities grow their own food on their own terms.
Ichora is our answer to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2 (Zero Hunger) and 10 (Reduced Inequalities). Cold plasma won't end world hunger on its own. But it can be part of the solution — and we intend to build that part.
We're looking for partners, mentors, and funders who want to help get this technology into the hands of the people who need it.
Reach out anytime:
info@ichora.ca →