PATS and the EIC Accelerator: Drones That Hunt Greenhouse Pests

PATS, the trading name of Mu-G Knowledge Management, a Delft University of Technology spin-off, builds cameras that watch the air above greenhouse crops at night and identify flying pests by their size, speed and flight pattern, and palm-sized "bat-like" drones that fly into the insects and kill them with their propellers. It was selected in the EIC Accelerator's March 2023 cut-off with blended finance and received an EU grant of €1.32 million for a €2.50 million project that ran from December 2023 to November 2025, according to CORDIS. The objective promised to "cut insecticides by 75%", with a 10% reduction by 2030, by combining its technology with biological pest control.

The only public report, to November 2024, says PATS redesigned its Trap-Eye sticky-trap monitor for mass production with robotic assembly, improved its insect classification models, built a model that forecasts pest outbreaks, and made its PATS-X drone system more scalable, with "field tests now ongoing", according to the CORDIS reporting page. In September 2025 PATS raised €2.7 million and said it works with "hundreds of growers" and that its products are in use in more than 25 countries, according to YES!Delft.

Where PATS Stands Now

The September 2025 round was backed by Division Q, Percival Participations, Delft Enterprises and tech and horticulture investors; the EIC Fund is not named among them. PATS now describes a pest management suite: the PATS-C camera, Trap-Eye, developed with biological control company Biobest, and forecasting tools PATS-Vinder and PATS-Kalendar. Its website offers demos and quotes for PATS-C and Trap-Eye, while the drones are described as the system's "act" step. The company's balance sheet total was €1.64 million at the end of 2024, according to accounts summarised by North Data; revenue is not disclosed.

The Technology: Count, Predict, Strike

Greenhouse pests are growing resistant to insecticides, and rules on chemical use are tightening, the report says. PATS cameras count and classify insects each night, the software predicts pest build-up, and growers release natural predators or spray only when needed. The drones are meant for pests that biological control cannot handle. How much insecticide the system saves in practice has not been published in an independent study.

What the EIC Award Promised, and What the Record Shows

The award aimed to scale the full system, from monitoring to drones, for greenhouses across Europe. Monitoring was scaled up and is sold widely. The drone was in field tests at the halfway point, and there is no final report to show whether it reached commercial deployment. No insecticide reduction figure from customers has been published.

1. Trap-Eye mass productionDeliveredRobotic assembly, 2024.
2. Pest predictionDeliveredVinder and Kalendar tools.
3. Scaled drone systemPartialField tests, 2024.
4. Insecticide reductionUnverifiedNo data published.

The Money

The EU paid 53% of the project. The seed round was twice the grant. Since 2019, when the UNIIQ fund invested €250,000, according to Bits&Chips, PATS has grown from a drone concept into a data and monitoring business. Whether the EIC Fund invested under the blended finance award is not public.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

The EU wants to cut pesticide use, and greenhouse growers need alternatives that work. PATS gives them data to act earlier and a technology that could replace some sprays altogether. Its monitoring business is established; the drone that made its name has yet to show it can scale.

The Verdict

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