Latest / Startup Builders & Backers / Scaling AgTech Across Europe Lessons From eAgronom CEO Robin Saluoks

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Scaling AgTech Across Europe Lessons From eAgronom CEO Robin Saluoks · Startup Builders & Backers

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slash browser and you can find out more information
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there. But now, on with today's show. What happens
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when the future of farming is being shaped by
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someone who grew up living it? Well on today's
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episode of Startup Builders and Backers I'm joined
1:32
by the CEO of a company called E Agronaut and
1:36
this is one of those conversations that that
1:39
quickly moves from a startup story into something
1:41
much bigger Because yes, this is a company that
1:45
is using technology to help farmers help them
1:48
manage land, track soil carbon and create new
1:51
revenue streams. But underneath all of that is
1:55
a much more human story about family, farming
1:58
and building technology that actually solves
2:01
a real problem. Now Robin comes from a farming
2:05
family who built his first farm management software
2:08
to help his father and then watched that idea
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grow into a platform now serving thousands of
2:15
farmers across Europe. But what I love about
2:18
this conversation is it doesn't treat agriculture
2:21
like an abstract sustainability talking point.
2:25
It gets right into the friction, the data headaches,
2:28
the economic realities and why farmers do not
2:31
need more dashboards and more admin. They need
2:34
tools that quietly do some of the heavy lifting
2:36
for them. So for me this is a fascinating conversation
2:40
that covers everything from soil carbon, regenerative
2:44
farming and why some of the biggest companies
2:46
in the world are suddenly paying much closer
2:49
attention to what is happening on farms. And
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if you've ever wondered how sustainability becomes
2:54
something more measurable, practical and profitable,
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hopefully this conversation will give you something
3:00
to think about and take away. So whether you
3:03
are a founder, an investor or a farmer, or just
3:06
someone curious about where climate innovation
3:08
meets real -world execution. Stick around, there's
3:12
a lot of value in this one. But enough from me,
3:14
let me introduce you to Robin right now. Can
3:18
you tell everyone this thing a little about who
3:20
you are and what you do? Hi, glad to be here.
3:23
I'm Robin, I'm the CEO and founder of E -Achronom.
3:26
And my background is that I'm coming from the
3:29
farming family. So my father is a farmer and
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his father was a farmer and so on. So I went
3:36
to study computer science. And then back in 2016,
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my father needed a tool to manage the family
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farm. I ended up building something initially
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only for us. And then other farmers saw this
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and wanted to start using it as well. And that's
3:51
how e -acronym got started. Now, in the beginning,
3:54
it was really a farm management tool. But part
3:57
of it was something that we called a humus balance
4:01
calculator. So humus is the richest part of the
4:04
soil and half of this is carbon. And back in
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2016, there was no farmer beside my father asking
4:13
for this humus balance calculator. But we still
4:18
wanted to build it because we wanted to communicate
4:20
to farmers about the importance of soil health.
4:23
And then fast forward to 2020. when we had already
4:27
quite some farmers on the platform. So today
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we have 3 ,500 farmers managing 2 .5 million
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hectares. Back then we had less, but we had already
4:37
enough to think about next steps. How can we
4:40
bring more value to farmers? And at the same
4:42
time, some big corporates started approaching
4:45
us saying that, hey, you have done quite a lot
4:47
to reduce your emissions, or that they have done
4:51
a lot to reduce their emissions and they now
4:53
want to compensate for the remaining ones. and
4:55
because we were vocal about soil carbon, they
4:58
approached us and that's how E -Achronom carbon
5:00
programme got started. Wow, there is so much
5:04
to unpack there, such an inspiring story. So
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you grew up on a farm, you built your first farm
5:10
management software at 17 and I'm curious, when
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you look at agriculture today, it's in the blood
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and it's in the DNA of your entire family there.
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What is it that still feels broken and why has
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it taken so long for technology to to gain real
5:24
traction in this space? Do you think? Yeah, well,
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I guess one of the biggest challenges is that
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we are dealing with the real nature. So we're
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not automating bits and bytes. We are actually
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automating the real world environment and and
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everything is changing in the farm. There is
5:41
that there are a lot of exceptions and so on.
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So it's obviously difficult to automate this.
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And the biggest challenge, I would say, in general
5:50
in this industry is the data collection. So how
5:55
to make sure that farmers wouldn't need to sit
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behind the computer and typing everything to
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the computer. They would like to be behind the
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wheels, looking the fields, analyzing, thinking
6:10
what to do. They don't want to deal with the
6:13
reporting. And that's something that we put a
6:16
lot of effort into. And when we look at agriculture,
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it is often described as one of the least digitized
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industries. Some of that is changing. I'm reading
6:26
more and more about agri -tech, but what has
6:29
changed recently that is finally making things
6:31
like AI, satellite data, real -time monitoring
6:34
so viable and at scale for farmers who already
6:38
are limited with budget, etc. What's changing
6:41
here? Well, obviously, I guess all of us have
6:47
noticed the developments in the AI and technology
6:50
and so on. And that's one side of the story.
6:54
But I guess less noticed part of the story is
6:58
that, or less obvious perhaps, is that soil carbon
7:04
sequestration is now valued by some companies.
7:08
And because it is valued by companies and these
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companies want the proof. that carbon has been
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stored in the soil and want to have proper calculations
7:18
behind it and so on, that is accelerating also
7:22
the digitalization of farming, because you need
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to get the data automatically to produce carbon
7:27
credits in the farm and from the soil. So basically
7:30
the idea that there are some companies who are
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thinking that, hey, look, we all produce some
7:36
waste. I produce some waste. You produce some
7:38
waste. And while we try to minimize this, but
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there is some leftover, like some plastic bags
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I have over here or plastic bottles or something
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else. And what we do with this, we work with
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waste management companies who ideally recycle
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this waste. And these big corporations now have
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acknowledged that CO2 is also waste or garbage.
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and it doesn't smell or you cannot see it with
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your eyes, so that's why we think about it differently,
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but it's physically there and it's influencing
8:16
our lives. So now those corporations are looking
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around, okay, who could be this kind of waste
8:22
management company who could help us? And farming
8:27
and regenerative farming is a way to recycle
8:30
the CO2 emissions into productive soil. a bit
8:34
like recycling the plastic into sunglasses. Regenerative
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farming is recycling CO2 emissions into soil
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and this narrative and that kind of demand for
8:47
regenerative farming and where you also track
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the sequestration to prove that it actually happened.
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This I think is the biggest boost to the digitalization
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of agriculture right now and obviously technological
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advancements make it more easy and even more
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interesting and attractive and etc. But I would
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say this kind of soil carbon narrative change
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is the biggest impact right now. Measuring soil
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carbon and agricultural emissions for people
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listening outside of that space, it might sound
9:21
incredibly straightforward in theory, but it
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is also incredibly complex in practice. So where
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do most attempts fall short and what makes this
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such a difficult data problem to solve? How it
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works is usually measure and model approaches.
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Basically, Every five years, you're taking measurements.
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So you're measuring actually physical soil carbon.
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But then on an annual basis, you also want to
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do reporting. And that's where the soil models
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are coming in. And these are the soil models
9:55
that have been calibrated and validated based
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on hundreds of soil studies in different regions
10:00
where we operate. And then independent parties
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have to review this and say that everything is
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OK. And these are really good soil models. But
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the problem is, that if you have bad data going
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in, these soil models also give you wrong results.
10:16
And it would be, I don't know, like if you say
10:19
that you are in a calorie deficit and you eat
10:21
super healthy, but actually you are eating all
10:25
the burgers and everything, then well, the...
10:30
the model will give you the wrong result. It
10:32
will say that you are losing the weight while
10:34
actually you are gaining weight. The same thing
10:36
is with soil. That's what makes the data collection
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super important. Now, the question is how to
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get this data. It's easy to add data with the
10:49
mobile app, for example, but the problem is that
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it's even easier not to do it. Most of the farmers
10:54
will would kind of forget about this and would
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focus on the farming. And then in the end of
11:00
the season, see that, OK, I have to put a lot
11:01
of data in manually. It has to be automated.
11:05
So then satellites. This is another emerging
11:07
technology. And that's quite good. And it can
11:11
capture what crop is growing. It can capture
11:13
sometimes the delish events. But there are also
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some things that it cannot capture. For example,
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if you have three cultivation events in one week,
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then satellite doesn't notice it because it goes
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perhaps once a week only or when there are clouds,
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it might be even more difficult or fertilization
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events or crop protection events. These are something
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that satellites are not noticing. Now, new tractors,
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you can get data automatically from there as
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well. But the problem is that most of our farmers
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and in Europe, average farmer is a smaller kind
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of farmer. So most of our farmers do not have
11:49
full fleet of modern enough tractors and they
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cannot send data automatically. So the question
11:56
is then how to upgrade those old tractors and
12:00
how to get data automatically from there as well.
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You're currently supporting thousands of farmers
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and farmers are not techies by their very nature
12:10
and they will expect things to just work. So
12:13
I'm curious, how do you introduce new technology
12:16
without adding friction or frustration or disrupting
12:20
the day -to -day realities farmers already deal
12:22
with? Because I would imagine that they'd be
12:25
slightly impatient with adding new tech if it
12:28
brings them problems. So how do you deal with
12:30
that friction there? So if we speak about technology
12:34
from the kind of software and hardware perspective,
12:38
then our strategy over there is to make it seamless.
12:42
So the farmers even don't notice it. But there
12:47
is another part that you can also consider new
12:49
technology. You also promote some new farming
12:53
practices that are then storing more carbon in
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the soil. and how to get farmers to change practices,
13:00
to do something differently from something that
13:03
they had done in the past. And we were thinking,
13:06
okay, who is really good in influencing farmers'
13:10
practice decisions? And we saw that fertilizer
13:13
companies and chemical companies are doing a
13:16
really good job. So they are always influencing
13:18
farmers very well to apply certain products and
13:23
certain practices. and how they operate. So basically,
13:26
we mimic what they are doing. Number one, we
13:30
have local partners, local resellers. And these
13:32
are companies who already have tens of years
13:34
of relationships with farmers. So they have all
13:37
the trust already. Number two, we have our own
13:40
local small team who is not working directly
13:43
with farmers, but is working with the resellers,
13:45
making sure that it's easy for resellers to introduce
13:49
our offerings. And number three, In every country
13:53
where we operate, we set up field trials and
13:56
build events around this so that farmers can
13:58
see in their own neighborhood what is working
14:00
and what is not working. So basically, and chemical
14:04
companies and fertilizer companies, I mean, fertilizers
14:07
are super important. Without them, we would be
14:10
starving. So like saying nothing bad about them,
14:15
but they have been really successful in influencing
14:18
farmers to buy their products. So mimicking what
14:22
they are doing has been our strategy as well.
14:26
And there is a lot of discussion around carbon
14:29
credits in agriculture at the moment. So from
14:32
your perspective, how do you ensure those credits
14:34
are credible, measurable and actually beneficial
14:37
to farmers rather than just adding another layer
14:39
of complexity? You make it sound incredibly easy,
14:42
but tell me a little bit more about how you do
14:43
that. Yeah, so first of all, What we like about
14:49
carbon credits and what it has to be and stay
14:52
is that that would be that it's a way for farmers
14:56
to provide a service for the society. And as
15:00
I told you before, the service is recycling CO2
15:04
emissions into soil. And it's not additional
15:08
regulation or something that farmer has to do.
15:11
It's optional thing for farmer that, hey, society
15:14
or certain company wants to buy this service
15:16
from you. Are you willing? to provide the service.
15:20
And then farmer can evaluate, okay, this is what
15:22
they need to do. And that's kind of what it costs
15:26
us. And that's how much work I need to do. And
15:28
that's how much I will get paid. So does it make
15:31
sense for me or not? So that's the big picture.
15:34
Now, going into details, the same things that
15:37
I mentioned before. Number one, the data collection,
15:39
it has to be fully automated. And that's important
15:43
from one side for the credibility of the carbon
15:47
program, but on the other side also for scalability,
15:51
because farmers don't want to continue adding
15:53
everything, typing everything in. So the data
15:56
has to come automatically. And then the other
15:59
part is also the practice promotion, because
16:03
in the end, the carbon only stays in the soil
16:06
if farmers continue with the practices. And we
16:09
have all kinds of buffer zones over there. ensuring
16:13
that if some farmers stop the practices, then
16:16
there is a buffer pool or insurance pool that
16:19
covers this. But the goal is that as many farmers
16:23
as possible would continue with those practices.
16:25
And to make that the reality, we have to actually
16:29
show the farmers how these practices benefit
16:31
them in the long run. And that they would really
16:34
understand that it's not only the short -term
16:36
transaction, but the carbon income helps to cover
16:39
the cost, but they will actually get benefits
16:42
in the long run from those practices as well.
16:45
and I suspect there will be some farmers listening
16:48
hearing about you guys for the first time thinking
16:51
this sounds great but in the past they may have
16:53
been burnt by many sustainability initiatives
16:56
that promised a lot but struggled to balance
16:59
environmental goals with economic realities it's
17:02
a fine balance there so what have you learned
17:04
about helping farmers adopt regenerative practices
17:07
well whilst still improving profitability I would
17:10
imagine that is a the big attraction there so
17:12
tell me more about that That's super important.
17:17
What we suggest usually to farmers is to start
17:21
small. So find something that works for you and
17:25
then scale it up. And obviously, that's also
17:30
why in every country we have those local team
17:35
of experts as well who are educating our resellers
17:37
so that they can then go and educate farmers.
17:40
It's a big decision to change your practices
17:42
considering that farmers can only try once a
17:45
year. And one farmer who was in his 50s told
17:50
me that he has only 11 harvest left. So trying
17:55
it out small first and then scaling it up I think
17:58
makes most sense. And also choosing the right
18:01
partner. You want to choose a partner who already
18:04
has experience and who can help you to avoid
18:09
some of the mistakes. If we look ahead, as more
18:14
farms inevitably become more data -driven, are
18:17
there any new risks or unintended consequences
18:20
that they should be thinking about, whether that's
18:23
data ownership, dependency on platforms, changing
18:26
power dynamics in agriculture, anything you're
18:29
seeing there, any concerns we can lay to rest
18:31
today? Yeah. Well, data ownership is super crucial.
18:36
So whenever you would work with some company,
18:39
I would recommend to ensure that you as a farmer
18:42
stay as an owner of the data so that you're not
18:46
giving the data away, but you actually own the
18:49
data. And well, I think on the other side, technology
18:52
can provide a lot of flexibility. So obviously,
18:55
this technology is taken enable easy data transfer.
19:01
from farmers to all those different stakeholders,
19:03
might it be a bank or a food company or a government
19:06
representative or insurance or something else.
19:09
But the key thing is that you as a farmer stay
19:11
in control so that the data would not go just
19:16
flying around without your approval. And you
19:21
said you serve over three and a half thousand
19:23
farmers there at the moment. I'm curious, where
19:24
are they all located? Are they all in Europe?
19:27
Are they scattered all over? So those 3 ,500
19:31
farmers are based in Europe. Our biggest markets
19:34
are Poland, Spain, Romania, Ukraine, Baltics,
19:38
Sweden, just to name a few. And we also have
19:43
a small pilot actually in East Africa that's
19:46
beyond this and mainly in Rwanda. And over there,
19:51
we don't have any new farmers right now. We just
19:53
want to set up all the processes and Probably
19:56
we will start scaling over there in a few years.
20:00
But over there, we have about 100 ,000 hectares.
20:05
But every landowner or, let's say, farmer has
20:08
one hectare. So in a way, we have over there
20:10
100 ,000 farmers as well. But the size of the
20:14
farmer is much smaller, so it's not comparable
20:16
with the European farmers. Wow. And we do have
20:20
an international audience. So farmers listening
20:22
anywhere in the world, they want to connect with
20:25
you, your team, learn more about what you're
20:27
doing here and ask any questions we didn't cover
20:30
today. Where would you like me to point everyone?
20:33
Yeah. I guess eacronom .com is the best place
20:37
to find us. Awesome well I will add a link there
20:40
to the show notes so I urge people listening
20:43
to go over to Tech Talks Network check out the
20:44
blog post associated with this I'll put links
20:47
and videos and everything to there and I always
20:49
say technology works best when it brings people
20:52
together but I love how you had this idea at
20:54
such a young age of enabling farmers to achieve
20:57
sustainability goals while supporting farmers
20:59
in generating additional revenue as well there
21:02
is the big ROI so I'd love to hear from farmers
21:05
listening to see what they think but best of
21:07
luck on your journey I'd love to stay in touch
21:09
with you and see how this unfolds but thank you
21:12
for sharing your story today. Thank you. One
21:14
of the things I really enjoyed about this conversation
21:17
with Robin today is in tech we spend a lot of
21:19
time talking about transformation automation
21:22
and data driven decision making but farming has
21:26
a way of humbling all of that we're not talking
21:28
about optimizing clicks or moving pixels around
21:31
a screen you're dealing with mother nature you're
21:34
dealing with soil weather timing risk and livelihoods.
21:38
and this is probably why this story feels so
21:40
refreshing its technology with its boots on and
21:44
its sleeves rolled up and what stood out to me
21:47
is Robin is not trying to force farmers into
21:49
someone else's vision of innovation because he's
21:52
built it around the realities that they're already
21:55
facing respecting their time, their experience
21:59
and the fact that their trust has to be earned
22:02
and this matters because any sustainability plan
22:05
that ignores profitability or everyday practicality
22:09
of running a farm is probably dead on arrival.
22:13
And I also think there's a much bigger lesson
22:14
here for founders and backers alike. The best
22:17
startup ideas often do not begin with a pitch
22:20
deck. They begin with a real problem, one that's
22:24
been seen up close by someone who understands
22:26
it deeply enough to build something useful. And
22:30
this is exactly what happened here. And as agriculture
22:34
becomes more connected, more measurable and more
22:37
central to climate conversations, the stakes
22:40
here only get higher. Because there will be questions
22:43
around data ownership, farmer control and long
22:46
-term incentives. These things are only going
22:49
to become more important. But after listening
22:51
today, I'd love to know what you thought. Are
22:53
we finally seeing technology meet farmers where
22:56
they are? Or are there still many people trying
22:58
to reinvent agriculture? without understanding
23:02
the field that they're standing in. As always,
23:04
techtalksnetwork .com. Take a look around, I'll
23:08
include all the links on the blog post associated
23:11
with this episode. But that's it for today. So
23:13
thank you for listening as always, and I'll speak
23:15
to you all again very soon. Bye for now.