Olivabot

Olivabot is building bio-inspired robots to automate olive harvesting in traditional groves. Millions of olive trees across Southern Europe are grown on steep, rocky, and irregular terrain — making them incompatible with current mechanized harvesters. As labor shortages worsen, more farmers are forced to abandon or under-harvest their groves, threatening both yields and the cultural heritage of traditional olive oil production. We’re developing terrain-adaptive, AI-powered harvesting robots that can navigate these complex environments — climbing, detecting, and picking olives with precision. Designed for small-to-medium farms, our robots reduce labor needs while preserving the quality and sustainability of hand-picked harvests. We operate on a Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) model: farmers pay per harvest, with no upfront cost. Our pricing aligns with farmer success, making advanced automation accessible without risky investment. Why now? Advances in robotics, computer vision, and lightweight design make it possible to bring automation into places that machines have never gone before. And the urgency is real — traditional groves are being left behind in the global shift to ag-tech. We're here to change that. Backed by the Amsterdam Academic Angel Fund and supported by Demonstrator Lab (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), we are currently focused on R&D and early field validation across Italy, Greece, Spain, and Portugal. We’re not building robots for factories. We’re building them for the hills.