HarvestAi is a Potsdam-based agritech company that builds AI software for high-tech greenhouses. Its web platform combines computer vision, machine learning and plant-physiology modeling to predict crop growth, harvest dates and yields, giving greenhouse operators forecasts that its team says exceed 90% accuracy. Growers use it to negotiate sales earlier, plan labor and logistics, and cut waste and energy costs. Founded in 2020 and led by CEO Dr. Georg Caspary, the company has raised roughly EUR 2.97M in seed funding and won first prize in Food/Agritech at Slush.
James Paterson is the co-founder and CEO of Aerobotics, a Cape Town-based precision agriculture company that turns drone and satellite imagery into AI-powered, tree-by-tree insights for fruit and nut growers. Raised on a family citrus farm and trained as a mechatronics engineer at the University of Cape Town before a masters at MIT, Paterson pairs first-hand farming instinct with aerospace-grade robotics. Since founding Aerobotics with Benji Meltzer in 2014, he has grown it into a global player that now analyzes a large share of the Florida citrus crop and has raised roughly $30 million, insisting the company is 'a farming company, enabled by technology' rather than a tech company that dabbles in farming.
Francisco Meré is the founder and CEO of Blooms, a financial-technology company that gives Latin American fruit and vegetable exporters fast working capital, cross-border factoring, and multi-currency payments so their produce can reach North American shelves. A lawyer-turned-banker-turned-builder, he previously co-founded Bankaool, Mexico's first fully digital bank, ran the agricultural development bank FIRA, and chaired Mexico's fintech association. With Blooms he is chasing a multibillion-dollar financing gap that keeps growers cash-poor even as demand for fresh produce booms.
Georg Caspary is the founder and CEO of HarvestAi, a Potsdam-based deeptech company that uses machine learning and computer vision to forecast harvest dates and yields in commercial greenhouses growing tomatoes, peppers and strawberries. A former World Bank economist and fundraising lead with degrees from Oxford, the LSE, Sciences-Po Paris and MIT, he spent two decades on environmental and agricultural finance across more than 20 countries before turning his attention to the unglamorous but high-stakes problem of knowing exactly how many tomatoes a greenhouse will produce, and when. HarvestAi has raised over $3 million, won first prize in Food/Agritech at Slush, and runs pilots in Germany, the Netherlands and Canada.
Aerobotics is a Cape Town-founded agritech company that turns aerial and smartphone imagery into tree-level intelligence for fruit and nut growers. Using drones, satellites and machine-learning algorithms feeding its Aeroview platform, it counts trees, flags missing or sick plants, tracks pests and disease, and forecasts yields with size, color and quality measurements - helping growers across roughly 18 countries protect crop value and make data-driven decisions.
Beewise builds the BeeHome - a solar-powered, AI-driven robotic beehive that monitors and treats up to 24 honeybee colonies in real time. Founded in Israel in 2018 and now headquartered in San Ramon, California, the company is using computer vision, machine learning and precision robotics to cut annual colony losses from ~40% to under 10%, protecting the pollinators behind a third of the global food supply.
Saar Safra is the CEO and Co-founder of Beewise, the company behind the BeeHome - the world's first AI-powered autonomous robotic beehive. A serial entrepreneur with three prior exits, Safra pivoted from digital advertising tech to saving the global food supply when he returned to Israel and met a beekeeper who asked a deceptively simple question: could a computer do this better? Since founding Beewise in 2018, the company has deployed 1,240+ robotic beehives pollinating over 300,000 acres annually, raised nearly $170M in total funding including a $50M Series D in June 2025, and earned Safra a spot on Forbes' 2025 Sustainability Leaders list.
Roger Salameh is a General Partner at Swanlaab Venture Factory's AgriFood Fund I, bringing over 30 years of hands-on agribusiness and biotechnology leadership to the venture world. A veteran of Monsanto, Calgene, and Arcadia Biosciences - where he served as interim CEO and then COO - Salameh now deploys capital into early-stage agri-food tech startups from his perch in Napa, California, while simultaneously running DnA Advisory Services, a consultancy helping AgTech and FoodTech companies navigate the path from innovation to commercialization.