Southern Italy is rapidly becoming a key European hub for agricultural innovation. As the Horizon Europe-funded project SMARTERRA (powered by SMAFINE) reaches its final stage, we look back at two years of growth, capacity building, and networking. From the Agrifood Summit 2025 in Matera to the international stage of Agritechnica: here is how our startups are redefining the future of farming.

As part of the Desafía Agtech Germany program, we are supporting ZETRACK in establishing its presence in the German market. In the following interview, ZETRACK explains what sets the ZETRABOT apart from other machinery solutions, why now is the moment for electric and autonomous tractors and what types of partnerships the company aims to build in Germany through the Desafía Agtech Germany program.

RootCamp is proud to be partnering once again with Agritechnica, a world-leading trade fair focusing on technological advancements in agriculture. This event, held from the 9^th to the 15^th of November 2025 in Hannover, is a key gathering for the industry, setting the stage for innovations that drive the future of sustainable agriculture and technological solutions.

RootCamp is proud to be partnering once again with Agritechnica, a world-leading trade fair focusing on technological advancements in agriculture. This event, held from the 9^th to the 15^th of November 2025 in Hannover, is a key gathering for the industry, setting the stage for innovations that drive the future of sustainable agriculture and technological solutions.

The Desafía AgTech Germany program has kicked off, bringing six promising Spanish startups to explore opportunities in the German Agtech ecosystem. Each of them brings unique expertise in areas such as precision agriculture, sustainable crop management, biotechnology, and digital farming solutions. Together with ICEX and Red.es, RootCamp is leading the implementation of this initiative. As a multi-corporate innovation hub, RootCamp supports the startups in building connections, understanding the German market, and turning innovation into concrete business collaborations. Spain’s AgTech ecosystem has grown rapidly in recent years, shaped by the need for efficiency and sustainability in challenging environments. Expanding into Germany allows these startups to apply their know-how in one of Europe’s most advanced and technology-driven agricultural landscapes.

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.