This year RootCamp will support the Desafía AgTech Germany program. Desafía is an intensive market entry and networking program aimed at promising Spanish AgriTech startups. The goal of the program is to provide participants with a deep understanding of the German market and to connect them directly with partners, companies, and investors.

With Batch #7, the RootCamp innovation hub from Hannover is starting a new round, welcoming six promising startups into its accelerator program. Over the coming months, the selected teams from Germany, Serbia, Latvia, Belgium, and France will receive targeted support to further develop their technologies, gain access to expertise and investors, and seize the opportunity for pilot projects with industry partners.

A lot has happened since Smarterra (officially Smarterra powered by SMAFINE) was launched in February 2024 in Matera. This EU Horizon project is dedicated to fostering AgriFood innovation systems and entrepreneurial activity in Southern Italy.

Industrial hemp offers significant potential for the bioeconomy. To harness this potential, investments in innovation and in scaling up industrial hemp production and processing are necessary. This is the key finding of an analysis of the industrial hemp value chain conducted as part of the “Bioeconomy Deep Dives,” carried out by the innovation hub RootCamp on behalf of the Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank and the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).

Water is essential to all life, and its efficient management has become a key challenge for sustainability in today's world. According to the United Nations (UN Water, 2021), by 2025, nearly two-thirds of the global population could face water shortages. Many industries, particularly in agriculture, energy, manufacturing, and food processing, are some of the largest consumers of freshwater. Inefficiencies in water management, such as outdated infrastructure and wasteful usage, exacerbate water scarcity, making it increasingly difficult to meet growing demand.

Last year, RootCamp, together with five other consortium members, kicked off the SMARTERRA powered by SMAFINE project in Matera, Southern Italy. The EU-Horizon funded initiative aims to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Southern Italy’s food and agriculture sector. Despite its economic importance, the AgriFood sector in Southern Italy encounters barriers to growth, particularly due to limited funding sources that hinder local startups and scale-ups. Seeking to bridge this funding gap, the project aims at attracting foreign investors and informing European capital providers about the promising opportunities within Southern Italy's AgriFood sector. 

Within SMARTERRA powered by SMAFINE, RootCamp’s activities focus on knowledge-sharing, ecosystem support, and capacity-building initiatives. One such measure is a delegation visit to Hannover, including consortium partners and SMARTERRA powered by SMAFINE ambassadors—four selected agritech startups from Southern Italy. The delegation visit, taking place from February 24th to 26th, will include visits to the Bayer Life Hub in Monheim, RootCamp’s Demo Day in Hannover, and the agrifood de:hub meetup in Osnabrück. Apart from the startups, Johan Jörgensen, project consortium member and Founder of Sweden Foodtech will join the delegation. 

Here are 4 AgriTech Startups Transforming Southern Italy’s Agriculture

Abit Agritech: AI-Powered Solutions for Healthier Soils

Using advanced soil analysis tools and AI-powered technology, Abit Agritech a startup from Milan around CEO Chiara Antonucci helps enhance soil biodiversity and health. Their innovative solutions optimize soil management practices, reduce dependency on chemical inputs, and promote environmental sustainability.

Anostra: Smarter, Safer Agricultural Machinery

Giuseppe Castellitto, along with his team from Anostra introduces Aisidoro, a plug-in module that transforms existing agricultural machinery into safer, semi-autonomous systems. Using AI, it adapts to terrain and driving styles, reducing false alarms and enabling timely emergency responses.

Terroir from Space: Detecting Unexploited Vineyard Planting Sites

By utilizing satellite data Alessandro Saetta and his co-founder from Terroir from Space  analyze key parameters associated with soil and climate for different locations. This information is fed into a trained AI algorithm to detect and classify new planting sites, with long-term resilience to climate change.

Symbiagro: Green Biotechnology for Enhanced Productivity

Symbiagro leverages microbial biocontrol agents, biostimulants, and biofertilizers to enhance crop resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses, while reducing chemical usage. The team around CMO Alessandro Pipolo patented their microbial production process which improves product affordability and shelf life.

SMARTERRA powered by SMAFINE’s mission is to connect the South Italian innovation ecosystem with other European investors, mentors and project partners. To learn more about our activities and upcoming events, check out our website and our social media. If you are interested in learning more about SMARTERRA powered by SMAFINE, one of the startups or if you even have a collaboration idea in mind, don’t hesitate to contact us.

What´s next?

Save the date! Don’t miss the chance to discover these innovative startups. Within the delegation visit, the founders will attend our Demo Day on February 25, 2025, at RootCamp headquarters. Mark your calendar and connect with Southern Italy! REGISTER HERE

The Smarterra activities are funded under the project SMart Agriculture & Food INnovation Ecosystem (SMAFINE) funded by the European Union’s HORIZON EUROPE research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101114215. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

After an exciting three-month program and intensive preparation, the eagerly anticipated moment finally arrived. We welcomed attendees to the 5th Demo Day held at our headquarters in Hannover. This year's event for RootCamp Batch #5 brought together a multitude of stakeholders from our valued partnership network, uniting a diverse audience ranging from local startups and academic representatives to corporate collaborators. In the vibrant atmosphere of the event, the spotlight was focused on the values of innovation, collaboration, and the exciting potential for cross-industry synergy.

EuroTier/EnergyDecentral is the leading livestock and energy fair organized by DLG (German Agricultural Society/Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft) every two years in Hanover. Over 1,800 exhibitors from 57 countries were present and around 106,000 visitors from 141 countries come by. An impressive performance for the first EuroTier after 4 years break due to a COVID-19!

Get to know Caspar Olenhusen! He is one of RootCamp's startup coaches, with a passion for agriculture since his childhood. During his career in different countries like the USA and the UK, he collected a wide amount of knowledge and know-how to coach startups in the agribusiness and agtech scene.

For Batch#3 we got 250 applications from 58 countries worldwide! We are extremely grateful for your interest in our program and the choice was definitely not easy for us. Together with our partners, we have selected seven promising startups. The business ideas are driven by innovative technologies with a major impact on the agricultural industry. In the coming months our mentors, corporate partners and industry experts will work with the startups on many different topics as part of our acceleration program.