10 Early-Stage Agtech Startups in Italy to Watch in 2024

Boosting Italian Agriculture: How These Startups Are Making a Difference

Italy boasts a powerful agricultural sector ranking 3rd in the EU contributing to its 2% GDP and an agri-food system contributing to 15% GDP. The Italian agriculture sector still faces challenges like declining production. However, a promising solution is emerging: Agriculture 4.0. Or AgTech. This tech-driven movement leverages IoT sensors, data analytics, drones, and agricultural robots to optimize land management and crop monitoring. AgTech empowers Italian farmers with cutting-edge tools like remote sensing and automation to cultivate efficiency, reduce waste, and produce sustainable crops. This translates to a reduced environmental footprint and higher quality produce through data-driven precision agriculture.

Unveiling Italy's Agtech Revolution

Italy, a European agricultural leader, is experiencing a surge in AgTech innovation. Data from Zefyron Startup Database and Eatable Adventures reveals a thriving Italian food-tech scene with over 340 companies, with AgTech claiming a significant 22.3% share.

Investment in Italian FoodTech is flourishing, reaching a record-breaking €167 million in 2023 (a nearly 10% rise from 2022). This enthusiasm extends to budding entrepreneurs, with a significant portion of funding (43%) directed towards seed-stage Italian AgTech businesses and a remarkable 32.3% aimed at pre-seed ventures. Notably, the AgTech sector itself secured over $62 million, highlighting strong investor confidence.

From Precision Farming to Sustainable Solutions

New farming systems, crop automation, and biotechnology are at the forefront of Italian AgTech innovation, capturing the interest of approximately 75% of AgTech startups. This signifies a growing focus on groundbreaking solutions like vertical farming, precision farming while also emphasizing the importance of improving efficiency and optimizing traditional practices. This trend reflects a commitment to developing sustainable and productive solutions for the future of Italian agriculture.

Top 10 Italian Agtech Startups You Should Know About :

• 1. 1. Evja - Enhancing Agricultural Efficiency with precision solutions.

     

     • Headquarters - Naples, Campania, Italy
     • Founders - Antonio Affinito, Davide Parisi
     • Establishment year - 2015
     • Funding(in USD) - $ 4.5M
     • Investor/s - CDP Venture Capital, StartLife, Sefea Impact, Startupbootcamp FoodTech Rome, Agro Innovation Lab Gmbh
  2. Evja aids farmers in enhancing the oversight and control of irrigation, nutrition, and crop protection by employing OPI, a cutting-edge precision agriculture system. By utilizing wireless agricultural sensors, they gather field data, which is then analyzed using artificial intelligence to develop predictive models tailored to individual objectives. Additionally, they offer personalized disease prediction models, crafted by AI to suit specific crop types. This enables timely intervention, thereby maximizing the efficient utilization of agro-chemicals and biological products, resulting in reduced chemical residue levels.

  1. 2. Tomato+ - Indoor farming, Eco-Friendly Crop Innovation

     

     • Headquarters - Borgosatollo, Lombardia, Italy
     • Founders - Daniele Rossi
     • Establishment year - 2016
     • Funding(in USD) - $ 4.1M
     • Investor/s - NA
  2. Tomato+ represents a groundbreaking indoor greenhouse, enabling year-round cultivation of premium vegetable sprouts, herbs, and salads. It caters to the increasing demand for nutrient-rich, freshly harvested vegetables, grown with minimal environmental footprint. This professional-grade greenhouse offers chefs an innovative solution for enhancing ingredient quality through direct production of top-tier vegetables, while simultaneously curbing waste and expenses, all with minimal environmental impact.

  1. 3. Cynomys - Revolutionizing solutions for Livestock Monitoring.

     

     • Headquarters - Ronco Scrivia, Liguria, Italy
     • Founders - Fabiana Surace, Enrico Carta, Ambra Milani
     • Establishment year - 2017
     • Funding(in USD) - $ 2.8M
     • Investor/s - Farming Future, SVG Ventures, dsm-firmenich, Levante Capital, RootCamp
  2. The patented Cynomys Livestock System offers modular devices for customizable monitoring of air, water, energy, and equipment in the livestock industry. It ensures continuous surveillance of greenhouse gases and harmful elements like ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, vital for maintaining healthy housing environments. Companies can utilize this system to measure environmental data, compare animal welfare with production metrics, and track the effectiveness of sustainability efforts.

  1. 4. Regrowth - Revolutionize plant health monitoring.

     

     • Headquarters - Teramo, Abruzzi, Italy
     • Founders - Pierfrancesco Di Giuseppe, Michael Odintsov Vaintrub
     • Establishment year - 2019
     • Funding(in USD) - $ 184.9K
     • Investor/s - FoodSeed
  2. Regrowth, an AI-powered platform addresses the hurdles faced by livestock farmers in early disease detection, resource optimization, and sustainability management throughout production cycles. The L.E.A.F. system, modular and sustainable with minimal space requirements, operates seamlessly in any environment. Tailored to meet the genuine needs of forward-thinking livestock farmers, it leverages proprietary AI and daily animal data to evaluate production quality and sustainability, quantifying environmental impact for transparent communication to end users.

  1. 5. Awentia - Enhances plant health, productivity, and efficiency.

     

     • Headquarters - Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
     • Founders - Federico Frontali, Mauro Manfredi
     • Establishment year - 2022
     • Funding(in USD) - $ 163.9K
     • Investor/s - NA
  2. Awentia Agritech utilizes its exclusive technology to seamlessly assess the well-being and output of your plants with unparalleled precision and reliability. Simply attach the device to your agricultural vehicle, and the system will initiate itself without any additional effort on your part. It immediately commences gathering, analyzing, and delivering real-time measurements of crucial vineyard parameters. Access accurate, georeferenced data, including field measurements and images, aiding in informed decision-making to minimize losses and optimize interventions.

  1. 6. Agrisky - Innovating greenhouse management with AI.

     

     • Headquarters - Rome, Lazio, Italy
     • Founders - Kaloian Stanimirov Gueorguiev, Renzo Fabrizio Carpio, Edoardo Stazio
     • Establishment year - 2023
     • Funding(in USD) - $ 43.4K
     • Investor/s - NextSTEP
  2. Agrisky stands as the data analytics platform for your greenhouse, simplifying the processes of data gathering, examination, and prediction through advanced machine learning and AI technologies. With GAIA (General Artificial Intelligence for Agriculture) serving as your virtual assistant, stay updated on real-time farm metrics, receive smart alerts for any irregularities, and optimize system performance. Their Plug&Play system effortlessly incorporates sensor data, driving a Prediction System (PS) for accurate crop projections. Easily determine your greenhouse's carbon and water footprint. Through data integration, craft customized Sustainability Reports tailored to your needs.

  1. 7. Agriverse - Agricultural management revolutionized.

     

     • Headquarters - Bari, Puglia, Italy
     • Founders - Vito Sanitate
     • Establishment year - 2019
     • Funding(in USD) - NA
     • Investor/s - NA
  2. Agriverse is an innovative management suite designed for the agricultural sector, providing essential tools for agricultural entrepreneurs, producer organizations, cooperatives, agronomists, and industry professionals. It offers comprehensive solutions for both agronomic and economic management, enabling users to record cultivation activities, track field interventions, manage warehouse operations, and oversee labor activities. With Agriverse, users can monitor farm progress, analyze costs and revenues, manage invoices, and gain valuable insights into farm economics. Additionally, it facilitates tracking of agricultural products throughout the supply chain, from crop sowing to harvesting and processing, while seamlessly integrating cadastral maps for precise land registry and field lot management.

  1. 8. Rcoffee - Transforming coffee waste, innovating recycling.

     

     • Headquarters - Rome, Italy
     • Founders - Arash Moazenchi, Marco Oliva, Matteo Villani
     • Establishment year - 2023
     • Funding(in USD) - NA
     • Investor/s - NA
  2. Rcoffee emerges as a startup dedicated to repurposing coffee grounds by converting them into pellets. They gather substantial quantities of coffee grounds and process them in a conventional pelletizing facility. Meanwhile, their strategic partner, White Star, employs patented machinery to handle the capsules, effectively separating coffee grounds from plastic and aluminum. This process facilitates the proper recycling of all constituent materials.

  1. 9. Olivair- Efficient, rapid, quality-focused olive harvesting.

     

     • Headquarters - Rome, Italy
     • Founders - Diana Zagarella
     • Establishment year - 2022
     • Funding(in USD) - NA
     • Investor/s - NA
  2. OlivAir introduces a cutting-edge 4.0 solution for olive harvesting, employing a drone with wind generation to facilitate efficient collection, even in steep terrain. This innovative approach eliminates the need for specific plant spacing or complex pruning, allowing seamless harvesting in challenging areas. Operating three times faster than traditional methods, OlivAir significantly reduces working days. By ensuring olives are harvested at optimal ripeness, it enhances oil quality, preserving organoleptic properties. Moreover, OlivAir prioritizes environmental sustainability by utilizing battery-powered drones and minimizing plant damage, demonstrating a commitment to eco-friendly practices.

  1. 10. SIRbit - Increasing farm yield & efficiency.

     

     • Headquarters - Rescaldina, Lombardia, Italy
     • Founders - -
     • Establishment year - 2021
     • Funding(in USD) - NA
     • Investor/s - NA
  2. SIRbit specializes in precision agriculture, providing services geared towards enhancing soil quality and productivity through targeted interventions. Utilizing advanced tools and technologies, SIRbit enables you to gain insights into every variable of your terrain, facilitating the adoption of more effective operational strategies. Their offerings include mapping vegetative vigor to estimate the nutritional requirements of both specialist and extensive crops, as well as data management and processing solutions to optimize the utilization of all collected agricultural data.

Overcoming Hurdles for a Sustainable Future

While challenges like inflation and droughts persist, Italy is actively addressing them. Institutions like the National Research Centre for Agricultural Technologies (Agritech) are leading the charge with significant funding allocated for developing solutions. Widespread adoption remains a hurdle. By bridging the knowledge gap and fostering collaboration, Italy can unlock AgTech's true potential and solidify its position as a leader in sustainable, productive agriculture.

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