The second quarter of 2025 marked a major milestone for the Ukrainian PlantIn app: it surpassed 35 million downloads. In just under five years, what started as a pet project has grown into a thriving business within the Genesis ecosystem. Scroll.media brings you the story behind PlantIn.
What PlantIn does
PlantIn is an app that helps users recognize and care for plants. Say you’ve received a potted plant as a gift, and the givers forgot to mention what it is (it happens!). PlantIn uses its built-in knowledge base to identify the plant. If it’s unhealthy or showing signs of disease, the app’s AI-based system can diagnose the issue and provide step-by-step care instructions.
In the first quarter of 2025 alone, PlantIn gained an additional 2.7 million downloads. In April, it saw over 600,000 new downloads. That’s a 25% year-over-year increase — in April 2024, the total was 28 million. This year, PlantIn became the top-ranked app in the global «Plant Apps» niche, significantly outperforming its competitors.
Based on its Q1 performance, the company anticipates even stronger results by the end of 2025, as the period from spring through fall is the peak season — both downloads and user activity typically rise. The figure may reach 3 million.
PlantIn was launched in late 2020 by brothers Mykhailo and Dmytro Hrynets. What began as a passion project soon showed real potential. When the app hit 10,000 downloads, the brothers realized they needed help to scale. They pitched the idea to the Genesis team, who backed them with a dedicated team, cross-functional expertise, and funding. Today, PlantIn is one of the youngest projects in the Genesis ecosystem, employing a team of 70 people.
How did it succeed?
Part of PlantIn’s early growth was fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic: with people spending more time at home, caring for plants became a popular pastime. But when the app launched, it quickly became clear that most existing solutions were fragmented:
- Some apps helped users recognize a plant
- Others offered care plans
There were almost no apps that did both. PlantIn combined these two core features into one seamless product. «This combination allowed the Ukrainian project to enter and secure a foothold in niche markets across the United States, Latin America, Australia, and Europe,» High Bar Journal reported. By the summer of 2023, the app had already reached over 20 million downloads.
Behind the scenes, the team has been relentless in refining the app.
«Another important factor is our commitment to constant, iterative product development — even small changes can drive major results. For instance, simply rearranging the screens led to a 14% increase in conversion to purchase, while changing a single word on a button boosted clicks by 5%. These ongoing improvements help us build a high-quality product and grow an active plant-care community,» says Ruslan Beheka, Growth Manager at PlantIn.
Personalized plant care plans are key to retaining users: once a plant is identified, care becomes an ongoing journey — one that keeps users engaged long-term.
$6.99 per week, while a lifetime plan costs $49.99. The company does not disclose financial metrics.
In 2023, the PlantIn team launched another app, CoinIn. It identifies coins from a single photo — appealing to numismatic collectors. Beyond recognition, the app can provide historical context and estimated value and even help connect users with potential buyers.
