Odd.Bot and the EIC Accelerator: A Robot That Pulls Weeds

Odd.Bot, founded by CEO Martijn Lukaart and based in Lelystad and Rotterdam, makes the Maverick, an autonomous robot that recognises weeds in rows of vegetables and removes them mechanically with two arms. Its EIC application promised "the first 100% environmentally friendly, autonomous weed management robot in the world", performing removal "at 1 mm accuracy while driving 360 m/h", offered to farmers as weeding-as-a-service, according to CORDIS.

The European Innovation Council granted €1,700,392 towards a €2.43 million project from January 2023 to December 2024. The final report is candid: after the 2023 season "it became clear that not all KPI's were met (yet)". Weed removal accuracy reached 85% or more for carrots at the youngest growth stages, but lagged at other stages, and crop damage had only been estimated. The team added autonomous driving and headland turning so the robot could run without a permanent operator, and grew its training database by more than 14,000 images. In December 2024 Odd.Bot raised €2 million in a pre-Series A round and said its first 16 Maverick robots for 2025 had sold out.

Where Odd.Bot Stands Now

Odd.Bot's website says the Maverick navigates fully autonomously on ridges, flat fields and beds, removes up to two weeds per second per arm and cleans up to two hectares a day, and invites growers to "secure your Maverick for 2027". It quotes organic farmers in Flevoland who say the robot replaced crews of hand weeders. The company says it deliberately limits production to guarantee quality and service with local partners.

The Technology: Eyes, Arms and a Growing Database

A camera looks down at the crop row, a machine learning model trained on labelled photos distinguishes weeds from crops, and two delta arms with grippers pull the weeds. Farmers label the first pictures; the model then keeps improving and shares what it learns across robots. The report says autonomous driving on flat fields, using crop positions and GPS, widened the market but was "not a result beyond the state of the art".

What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows

The project had seven work packages, from field testing to readiness for series production and market launch. The report documents mechanical and autonomy progress and admits missed accuracy targets in 2023. It gives no 2024 results, though the robot launched commercially that year. The promised 1 mm accuracy became 2 mm in the founder's own description, and the service model gave way to selling robots. CORDIS lists the project as closed.

1. Series-ready robotDeliveredMaverick on sale.
2. Autonomous operationDeliveredNo permanent operator.
3. Accuracy and crop damage KPIsPartialNot all met in 2023.
4. 1 mm precisionMissed2 mm reported.

The Money

The €2 million pre-Series A was led by Iconic Ventures with PolKa Capital Management, farmers, private investors and Horizon, Flevoland's development agency. Odd.Bot started with money from a Flevoland proof-of-concept fund in 2019. Revenue, the robot's price and whether the EIC Fund invested under the blended award are not public.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

Organic and conventional growers face labour shortages and tighter rules on herbicides, which Odd.Bot's CEO cites as drivers of demand. Mechanical weeding robots offer a way out of both. The EIC helped a small Dutch maker reach the market; its announced output for 2025 was 16 robots.

The Verdict

Odd.Bot and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.