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Continental and Octiva join forces in horticultural robotics
Press release
14 June 2022
On 13 June 2022, German technology company Continental and Dutch-Belgian technology company Octiva, signed a collaboration agreement to develop autonomous mobile robotic solutions for horticultural applications. Octiva is the new name for Priva Kompano, the recent merger between Priva’s horticultural robotics activities and Octinion’s agricultural robotics. With that bundling of forces, the partners will develop an industry-leading, autonomous and reliable solution that will shape the future of horticulture.
Automated and enhanced greenhouse processes
All existing and new applications, such as UV-C treatment, cutting leaves or picking strawberries will be built on Continental’s autonomous platforms. “Adding Continental’s autonomy capabilities to our market leading applications will allow us to offer our customers new features and thereby enable additional benefits for them. Moreover, it allows us to implement a focus driven strategy which will lead to a faster market entry.” says Tom Coen, CEO of Octiva. “Octiva’s market expertise allows us to enter this substantial growth market and to develop the exactly right platform for this market,” says Andreas Mandl, Project Lead for Continental.
Combining forces in autonomous robots
Octiva has developed a mobility platform that allows applications to move autonomously and safely within greenhouses. By joining forces with Continental, Octiva accelerates the development and industrialization, creating the reference platform for greenhouse automation. For Continental, the collaboration states a next step in their growth strategy in autonomous mobile robots. Pierre Pomper, Head of Autonomous Mobile Robots at Continental: “Entering this new market will allow us to further enhance our autonomous mobile robot solutions that we offer to customers globally. We will continue to cooperate with strong partners to provide our autonomous platform to diverse end markets beyond intralogistics and horticulture.”
Partnerships that shape the future of horticulture
“Our partnership with Continental, a strong partner and industry leader, allows us to establish a strong product line with the clear objective to become the market leader for autonomous horticulture robot solutions,” says Meiny Prins, CEO of Priva. Octiva will announce additional partnerships soon, as their ambition is clear: becoming the technology leader in horticultural robotics.
Download press release: English - Nederlands
Priva Kompano rebrands to Octiva
Press release
9 June 2022
Dutch technology company Priva and Belgian R&D group Octinion merged their horticultural robotics activities under “Priva Kompano” in 2021 and now revealed their new name: Octiva.
Priva Kompano becomes Octiva
Dutch technology company Priva and Belgian R&D group Octinion announced their merger in 2021, after which the horticultural robotics activities were first continued under the Priva Kompano flag. The new brand, Octiva, combines Octinion and Priva, with the “i" of innovation as a bridge between both parts of the name, as well as the common denominator.
A new brand to better connect with the mission
The Octiva mission is clear: helping growers make our food supply more sustainable and more efficient. The logo therefore has some organic elements in there, in terms of curving of the letters and logo, but also in the color scheme. The new brand was revealed externally during Delphy’s Field Day.
Download press release: English - Nederlands
Priva and Octinion combine robotic activities in Kompano
Press release
24 September 2021
A leading company in the field of horticultural robotics
Both Priva and Octinion have invested a lot of time, energy and money in the development of robotic innovations for the horticulture sector over the years. Priva has concentrated on developing a leaf-cutting robot for tomato cultivation, whereas Octinion has developed a strawberry picking robot and a UV-C robot to tackle diseases in greenhouses. The high global interest in these types of applications proves the value of robotic innovations in the horticulture sector and the enormous potential.
Shared ambitions
To further achieve the potential of robotics in the sector, both companies see advantages in joining forces, creating synergy by sharing knowledge on technology and scaling up research and application.
The announced merger will create a leading technology company in this new market with strong growth targets around the world. To strengthen its leading position in the market, the Priva Kompano Group will launch a new innovative robot on the market periodically.
The need for robotization
Demographic and socio-economic figures show that the shortage of labor in the horticulture sector is a limiting factor for growth and leads to decreasing food security worldwide. Growers indicate their need for new ways to automate manual and repetitive (picking) activities, therefore, also optimize the quality of the harvest.