Köln-based AgriTech startup scales real-world deployment of AI-powered greenhouse robots to three units in the Netherlands
Eternal.ag, a German AgriTech startup building fully autonomous harvesting robots for greenhouse agriculture, has announced a major expansion of its commercial deployment with Dutch grower Van Noord Growers. Following a successful pilot phase, the company will scale its robotic fleet from one to three harvesting robots this summer.
The move marks a significant milestone for the young robotics company, confirming both operational reliability and scalability of its AI-driven harvesting technology under real agricultural conditions.
From pilot to scaled automation
Since September 2025, Van Noord Growers has been using Eternal.ag’s autonomous tomato harvesting robot in its greenhouse operations in the Dutch province of Zeeland. The system, designed specifically for truss tomatoes, operates for up to 22 hours per day and uses computer vision and AI to assess ripeness, ensure consistent picking quality, and perform precise harvesting cuts.
The greenhouse operator cultivates tomatoes and cucumbers across 8.5 hectares and is actively addressing structural labor shortages in agriculture through automation. With the expansion to three robots, the company is accelerating its transition toward higher levels of autonomy in core harvesting operations.
A step toward fully autonomous greenhouses
According to both companies, the expanded deployment demonstrates that robotics can handle high variability in crops and greenhouse environments—one of the most difficult challenges in agricultural automation.
Eternal.ag highlights that the integration was achieved through a plug-and-play deployment model, enabling seamless incorporation of the robot into existing greenhouse workflows without major operational disruption.
The collaboration is also seen as a signal of broader industry transformation, where labor scarcity is pushing growers to adopt robotics not as an experiment, but as long-term infrastructure.
Leadership perspective
Renji John, Co-founder and CEO of Eternal.ag, emphasized the importance of the expansion as validation of real-world performance:
“The expansion of our first commercial deployment is a key milestone. It shows that our robots deliver the expected performance under real conditions. Reliability across highly variable crops and environments remains one of the biggest challenges in agricultural robotics.”
Van Noord Growers also sees automation as a structural necessity rather than an option:
“We expect labor shortages to intensify over the next 10 to 15 years. That is why we are expanding automation across our operations. The approach of eternal.ag fits perfectly with our long-term strategy,” said Jeffry van Noord, co-owner of Van Noord Growers.
About Eternal.ag
Eternal.ag is a German AgriTech startup headquartered in Cologne, developing fully autonomous harvesting robots for greenhouse environments. Founded in 2025, the company focuses on solving one of agriculture’s most pressing challenges: reliable access to labor. Its robots perform repetitive harvesting tasks with AI-driven precision, enabling more predictable and scalable greenhouse operations.
The company operates internationally with a second location in Bengaluru, India, and is backed by investors including Simon Capital, Oyster Bay Venture Capital, Equity Pitcher, and Backbone Ventures.
About Van Noord Growers
Van Noord Growers is a Netherlands-based greenhouse farming company operating in Zeeland, cultivating tomatoes and cucumbers across large-scale greenhouse facilities. The company is actively investing in automation and robotics to address long-term labor shortages in agriculture.
