Agricolus: farming smarter with data
Farmers are facing a perfect storm: climate unpredictability, rising production costs and regulatory pressure. For many, navigating these challenges without digital support is like farming blindfolded. That’s where Agricolus steps in.
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Agricolus
Agricolus is a startup that develops solutions for Smart Farming. Its mission is to support farms in simplifying and enhancing on field work by using innovative technologies of data collection and analysis.
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Farming has always depended on the weather, but now it must also weather a storm of modern challenges. From climate volatility and water scarcity to rising input costs, regulatory demands, and shrinking profit margins, farmers are being asked to grow more with less, and to do it more sustainably.
Add to that a widening generation gap: while young farmers are trained in agritech, many experienced growers find digital platforms complex or intimidating. Without support, they risk being left behind in a rapidly changing food economy. Agricolus is helping bridge that gap.
Based in Perugia, the heart of Italy’s agricultural region, Agricolus offers a digital platform that combines remote sensing, satellite imagery, and decision support systems, into one accessible tool. It supports farmers in monitoring their fields, anticipating threats like disease or drought, and making more informed choices about irrigation, fertilisation and harvesting.
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Crucially, Agricolus recognises that technology only works if it’s accessible. That’s why it provides practical online training through its Agricolus Academy, offering step-by-step guidance to help farmers adopt digital tools that can reduce costs, improve their resilience, and support long-term soil health.
With backing from EIT Food’s RisingFoodStars programme, Agricolus is helping farmers across Europe and beyond reduce input costs, improve crop health, and build resilience in the face of a changing climate, all while making digital agriculture more accessible, one field at a time.
This Italy-based agritech innovator has developed a cloud-based, smart farming platform that puts the power of satellite imagery, AI, and decision support tools directly into farmers’ hands.
Tech that’s grounded
With digital tools becoming critical to modern agriculture, Agricolus is helping farmers adapt, not by overwhelming them with data, but by translating it into practical, everyday decisions. Since joining EIT Food’s RisingFoodStars programme, Agricolus has refined its online platform, expanded into international ecosystems in Europe, and built partnerships that help bring innovation to the field.
Supported by EIT Food through accelerator programmes, networking, and visibility, Agricolus now reaches 47 countries, supports over 110 crop types, and has built a network of 31 partners across five continents. (5)This momentum was further boosted when Agricolus was named a winner of the EIT Food Ceres Award, recognising its role in shaping the future of farming.
Agricolus has since moved far beyond field monitoring to building full-stack digital farming systems. Key developments include integration with agricultural machinery for automating tasks like harvesting, and participation in pan-European research initiatives such as TITAN, CEBUS and VALPRO, where Agricolus contributes to tools for improving traceability, soil health, and protein crops systems.
The results are already visible. Users report lower costs and stronger yields through smarter irrigation, targeted fertilisation, and early pest detection, all while reducing chemical use and carbon input. Through its Academy, Agricolus has also helped train a new generation a farmers and agronomists, ensuring digital innovation is adapted not just by the few, but by the many.
We’re just at the beginning of the rush. We know that more and more people will want to use this kind of technology, so now is the moment to build the right tools and the network to support them.
The next crop of innovation
As digital farming becomes more mainstream, Agricolus is looking beyond tool adaptation to driving system-level change. The goal is to make digitally supported farming the new norm, not the exception.
This means working closely with stakeholders across the agrifood chain, from public institutions to private agritech partners, to ensure that digital infrastructure, regulation, and investment keeps pace with farmers’ evolving needs. There’s a growing appetite for precision tools, but to realise their full potential, data, training and new policies should be developed in synchrony.
Agricolus is also focused on adapting its platform for wider geographies and crop types, responding to demand from regions experiencing increased climate variability and soil degradation. The company builds sustainability and traceability into its digital tools from the outset – ensuring that smarter farming doesn’t come at the cost of inclusivity or biodiversity.
The vision is clear: a connected food system where technology helps farmers act faster, waste less, and grow better, not in isolation but through collaboration at every level. To get there, the sector needs champions willing to think long-term, invest in scalable infrastructure, and back innovators and early adopters on the ground.
Agricolus is a great example of how agritech can be scaled with purpose. Through RisingFoodStars and the Ceres Awards, we’ve supported their mission to make smart farming tools both accessible and impactful, and we’re proud to see their solutions growing across Europe and beyond.
Let the data take root
Agricolus proves that agricultural innovation doesn’t have to be complex to make an impact. It just has to be relevant, accessible, and built with farmers in mind.
Policymakers play a vital role by creating standards that support interoperability. Well-crafted policies can fast track the adoption of data-driven sustainability tools and back rural digitalisation with meaningful incentives
As the EU Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategy push towards greener agriculture, the tools to deliver it must be scalable and supported.
Education remains a critical gap, and digital literacy remains a barrier, especially among older or smallholder farmers. Educational institutions, NGOs and national programmes must step up to ensure the training isn’t reserved for the tech savvy few. Initiatives like the Agricolus Academy show that when farmers are supported to adopt new tools at their own pace, transformation follows.
For funders, now is the time to back agritech with long-term vision. Not just investment in startups, but also in the infrastructure, integration, and networks that allow these tours to thrive in diverse conditions and across borders.
Whether you’re shaping policy, designing funding strategies, delivering education, or working directly with farmers, there’s a role to play. Agricolus has shown what’s possible. Together we can build a food system that’s smarter, fairer, and more resilient for all.
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