Dutch startups aiming to transform agriculture and food in 2026

More than fifty Dutch startups are focused on agriculture and food. They build sensors, develop AI models, engineer robots and design proteins. What they have in common is not a single technology or a single market, but a comparable starting point: the current way of producing food can be made more efficient, cleaner and more resilient to climate variability.

The companies in this field vary widely in their approach. Some focus on the greenhouse, others on the open field or the supermarket shelf. Yet a pattern is emerging: data and AI play a central role in virtually every sub-market, and funding is flowing. Together, the best-known names in this segment represent tens of millions of euros in venture capital.

AI in the greenhouse: from sensor data to harvest forecasting

Protected horticulture is the segment where Dutch startups are most strongly represented. Source.ag, based in Amsterdam, develops AI software that enables growers to forecast yields and adjust crop strategies. The platform processes data on climate, biology and inputs, and delivers concrete recommendations through modules such as Source Track, Source Irrigation Control and Source Cultivate. In April 2026, the company launched harvest forecasts for pepper growers; a month earlier it released an improved model for tomatoes. The software now runs in more than 300 greenhouses covering 2,500 hectares across 18 countries. In November 2025, Source.ag raised $17.5 million in a Series B round, bringing total funding above $60 million. Investors include Astanor Ventures, Enza Zaden and growers' cooperative Harvest House.

30MHz, founded in Rotterdam in 2014, works on the data layer underlying these decisions. The company supplies wireless sensors that measure temperature, humidity and light intensity in greenhouses, combined with a platform that converts that data into daily actions. AI processes the measurements and links them to management recommendations for irrigation, ventilation and disease prevention. The platform integrates with existing greenhouse management systems from suppliers such as Priva and Hoogendoorn. SHIFT Invest, Rabo Investments and Rubio Impact Ventures are shareholders.

From Giesbeek, Antonie addresses a different layer: the soil. The company combines nematode analysis with AI for soil and crop monitoring, targeting regenerative agriculture. The approach differs from most greenhouse-oriented tools: Antonie focuses on the quality of the underground ecosystem as the foundation for healthy crops.

Robots in the field and data for the shelf

Odd.Bot from Rotterdam builds autonomous weeding robots for open-field cultivation. The Maverick robot operates day and night, navigating by vision along crop rows and removing weeds with up to 98 percent accuracy, without chemicals. The company was founded in 2018 by Martijn Lukaart and grew out of a collaboration with TU Delft and RoboHouse. At the end of December 2024, Odd.Bot raised €2 million in a pre-Series A round led by Iconic Ventures. Horizon, the development agency of Flevoland, also contributed, which aligns with the company's geographic focus on arable farming areas in that province.

At the other end of the chain, closer to the consumer, Culios from Ermelo operates. The company provides AI-driven search and recommendation systems for online supermarkets. Where growers and robot builders focus on production, Culios targets the moment of purchase. In 2025 the company raised €32.2 million through working capital financing.

Weather Solutions from The Hague delivers tailored, high-precision weather forecasts for sectors including agriculture. Weather data influences decisions about sowing, harvesting and irrigation, and the company addresses that specific information need. The startup raised €42.3 million in a Series B round in 2022.

Biotechnology as a longer-term play

In a category of its own is Cradle, founded in Amsterdam in 2021 by Stef van Grieken and Jelle Prins, both formerly of Google. The company uses generative machine learning to design and optimise proteins. This has applications in pharmaceuticals, but also in food ingredients, detergents and bioplastics. Cradle combines software with its own wet-lab research in Amsterdam. In November 2024, it raised $73 million in a Series B round led by IVP, bringing total funding to just over $103 million. Collaborations are underway with, among others, Bayer (from January 2026) and Lundbeck (June 2026). Six of the world's 25 largest pharmaceutical companies are customers.

Cradle's connection to agriculture and food is more indirect than that of a greenhouse software company, but it is real: protein technology plays an increasing role in the development of food ingredients and enzymes for the food industry.

What the companies have in common

The companies in this segment are tackling diverse problems: excessive weeds, insufficient insight into greenhouse climate, uncertain yields, food waste in the supply chain. But they share an approach. Data, and its interpretation with AI, runs as a common thread through virtually every business model. Whether it concerns sensors in a greenhouse, geospatial data for environmental risks via 52impactor AI-driven recommendations for online grocery shopping: the core is always the same, converting raw information into actionable decisions.

A second pattern is the international orientation. Source.ag opened an office in Chicago in 2024 for the North American market. 30MHz integrates with greenhouse management systems used worldwide. Cradle operates from both Amsterdam and Zurich, serving clients in the global pharmaceutical industry. Dutch agri-tech has historically had an export character, and that continues with the current generation of startups.

For investors and policymakers in the Netherlands, it is noteworthy that the funding rounds in this segment are substantial: Source.ag, Cradle and Weather Solutions each raised tens of millions. At the same time, Odd.Bot demonstrates that there are also companies active at the earlier end of the curve, bringing hardware solutions to market with relatively limited capital. The breadth of the field, from soil biology to protein design, makes agriculture and food one of the more diversely funded sectors in the Dutch startup ecosystem.