Eternal.ag raises €8M to automate greenhouse harvesting with AI-powered robots

Eternal.ag, a European startup, has secured €8 million to advance its AI-powered robotic harvesting solutions for greenhouses. This funding round, led by Simon Capital, highlights the growing imperative for technological innovation in agriculture to address critical labor shortages and ensure food security. The company's technology aims to tackle the increasing challenges faced by the horticultural sector, particularly the declining availability of manual labor. The core of Eternal.ag's offering is its autonomous harvesting robots, designed to operate with significant uptime and precision in complex greenhouse environments. These robots leverage AI and machine learning to adapt to the variability of crops and farm layouts, with a simulation-first development approach enabling rapid iteration and improvement. This focus on intelligent automation is crucial for overcoming the logistical hurdles that have traditionally limited full automation in agriculture. The impact of this technology is far-reaching, addressing a substantial labor deficit in European greenhouses, which has seen a decline of up to 30 percent since 2010. By automating physically demanding tasks, Eternal.ag's robots promise to enhance the reliability and continuity of greenhouse operations, thereby supporting year-round production of fruits and vegetables. The investment will fuel further product development, expand commercial reach across Europe, and enable the integration of additional crop types into their automated system.