Naware’s chemical-free weed control technology could change the way we treat lawns

Naware founder Mark Boysen first tried killing weeds with drones and a 200-watt laser.

He was brainstorming startup ideas with friends and thinking about how his family in North Dakota lost three members to cancer, which they suspected was linked to chemicals in groundwater. Finding a chemical-free way to kill weeds seemed like a solid option.

But the laser was a dead end. There’s too much risk of starting a fire, he told TechCrunch in an interview. After much trial and error prototyping with ideas like cryogenics, the solution he settled on – which he showed himself earlier this year at TechCrunch disrupts 2025 – it’s steam.

Boysen’s company has developed a system that uses computer vision to spot weeds in lawns, fields and golf courses, and kill them with nothing but spray water. It can be attached to mowers, tractors or even ATVs. For now, Naware is flexible, and Boysen is visibly eager for his idea to spread quickly – much like the weeds he’s trying to kill.

In a world of agentic AI and billion-dollar software companies, Naware stands out as a classic garage startup story. Boysen said his team first tested the use of steam by ordering a “rinky dink” steamer from Amazon. After that, they ordered seven more.

“They’re not really industrial,” Boysen said. “So there’s a lot of research that’s helping to develop this, to get to the point: ‘How can we make this effective and make it replicable so that it can be scaled up?’”

Developing steamboat technology was a challenge, but perhaps the most important was identifying the weeds, Boysen said. It’s well established that artificial intelligence software can be trained to accurately recognize objects or patterns, but the “green on green” problem was difficult, he said, particularly because the software must recognize weeds in real time while the device prowls a lawn. (And yes, it uses Nvidia GPUs.)

But he thinks they got there. He said Naware targets companies that handle turf maintenance at sports fields and golf courses, and claims his company can save such customers “between $100,000 and $250,000 on chemicals alone.”

On top of that, he said customers will save money by not having to pay for people whose only job is to spray these chemicals. Naware has done paid pilots to test and integrate the product, but Boysen’s pitch has already attracted potential partners, he said.

“We’re looking for strategic partnerships. We’re in talks with $5 billion companies that make equipment and are interested in our product. And we’re having some conversations about it – I can’t pronounce their names, but you’ll find out,” he laughed.

Success, Boysen said, will require three things: these partnerships, obtaining patents and financing. Boysen has started Naware for now, but said he will open his first fundraiser in the coming months.

“I have to put together a funding round that crushes anyone who tries to think about it,” he said. “I have to keep the promise that I can kill weeds, and it’s effective. And we’re going to make it work. I’m not worried about that.”