Seven European agrifood innovators recognized

EIT Food, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology's food innovation community, has named Orbiba Robotics founder İlker Bektaş a winner of its 2025 Innovation Prize, in the Tech Pioneer category. The award recognizes entrepreneurs whose agrifood innovations have moved from concept to market-ready product.

An independent panel selected seven winners from 118 applications across Europe, judging each on impact, novelty, commercial traction, and leadership. Bektaş was recognized for Ecominos, Orbiba's AI-powered modular field robot, which combines computer vision and multispectral sensing with CERN-licensed Structured Laser Beam technology to remove weeds while sparing beneficial plants and gathering real-time soil data — offered to small and medium-sized farms on a Robot-as-a-Service model.

Alongside Orbiba, the 2025 cohort included Randi Wahlsten (MATR Foods, Women in Innovation Award), Rodrigo García González (Notpla, Impact Innovator Award), and five other founders spanning fermentation, honey analytics, ocean packaging, vineyard monitoring, and food-systems education. Each winner receives €10,000 and visibility across EIT Food's pan-European network of researchers, investors, and industry partners.

Source: This original summary is based on EIT Food's announcement, "Shaping the future of food: Seven entrepreneurs awarded for their market-ready agrifood innovations."