Eternal.Ag has raised €8 million in a new funding round to accelerate the development and deployment of its AI-powered autonomous harvesting robots. The investment addresses one of the most critical challenges in controlled-environment agriculture (CEA): a deepening global labour shortage.
The funding round, led by Simon Capital, Oyster Bay Venture Capital, EquityPitcher Ventures, and Backbone Ventures, will be used to expand commercial operations across Europe, enhance product capabilities, and extend automation to additional crop types.
Labour crisis in agriculture
The greenhouse farming sector is increasingly vital for ensuring a stable, year-round food supply amid climate volatility and land constraints. However, the industry is currently facing a structural risk due to the lack of manual labour. According to data cited by Eternal.Ag, greenhouse labour availability in Europe has declined by as much as 30% since 2010.
The company’s solution involves fully autonomous robots designed to perform repetitive and physically demanding harvesting tasks without human intervention. By enabling continuous operations, the technology aims to improve reliability, productivity, and cost efficiency for commercial growers.
Technical Harvester system
The company’s flagship system, 'Harvester,' is specifically engineered for tomato greenhouses. The robot is capable of operating for up to 22 hours per day, using artificial intelligence to maintain consistent harvesting quality while adapting to the natural variability of plant structures and growing conditions.
A key differentiator for the startup is its development process. Renji John, co-founder and CEO of Eternal.Ag, explained the company's approach to system validation and improvement.
"We train and validate our systems in virtual greenhouse environments, reducing development cycles from months to days," said John. "Once deployed, each robot continuously feeds operational data back into the system to improve performance over time."
Roadmap toward fully autonomous greenhouses
Founded in 2025 by John and Sherry Kunjachan, Eternal.Ag has grown into a 26-person team with operations in Germany and India. The long-term vision for the company is the realisation of fully automated greenhouses by 2040, where robotic systems handle all major operational tasks to minimise reliance on manual labour.
Niklas Leske of Simon Capital emphasised the importance of the technology for the future of food production. "Labour shortages pose a structural risk to one of the most efficient and sustainable methods of food production," Leske stated. "Robotics offers a scalable solution to ensure consistent, decentralised food production in the face of rising demand and climate pressure."
The modular design of the platform allows for future expansion into tasks beyond harvesting, supporting a comprehensive automation strategy for the CEA market. The latest capital injection will support continued hiring and commercial rollouts across key European greenhouse markets.
