xFarm Technologies, a farm software company with its Italian arm in Valmacca and its group based in Manno, Switzerland, sells a digital platform that helps farmers manage fields, machinery, irrigation and crop protection. Its EIC project built xTrap, a trap with sensors and cameras that counts and identifies pest insects, combined with models that predict their life cycles. It called xTrap "the first predictive solution for pest life-cycle events (over 95% accuracy) on the market", according to CORDIS.
The European Innovation Council granted €870,625 towards a €1.24 million project from February 2023 to January 2025. The final report describes three trap types, a training image dataset, detection built on the YOLOv5 framework, and field tests reaching 98% accuracy on Tuta absoluta, 93% on Lobesia botrana, 100% on Halyomorpha halys and 70% on Ostrinia nubilalis. xTrap Delta and a self-cleaning Delta PRO are now listed among xFarm's sensors. In October 2024 the company raised a €36 million Series C led by Partech.
Company file
- Beneficiary
- xFarm Technologies Italia Srl, Valmacca (Piedmont)
- Group base
- Manno and Lugano, Switzerland
- Products
- xFarm platform; xTrap Delta and Delta PRO; weather stations
- Investors
- Partech, Mouro Capital, Swisscom Ventures, United Ventures; BlackRock partnership (2026)
- EIC project
- xTrap, 1 Feb 2023 to 31 Jan 2025, closed
- EIC funding
- Blended finance: grant plus equity
Where xFarm Stands Now
In September 2026 xFarm announced that the Brazilian sugarcane analytics firm Sibium Analytics was joining the group, its sixth such deal worldwide and second in Brazil within a year, bringing 8 million monitored hectares, according to its announcement, which also cited a new partnership with BlackRock. It says its platform supports 450,000 farms in more than 100 countries. Its 2026 news also covers partnerships in Poland and the UK and supply chain projects with food companies.
"The accuracy of the system made possible to identify new generations of insects at an early stage, enabling more targeted phytosanitary interventions and integrated pest management."
xFarm Technologies, final report to the EICThe Technology: Cameras in Pheromone Traps
xTrap photographs insects caught in pheromone traps and counts them with computer vision, while weather sensors feed growing-degree-day models that predict when each pest reaches the next stage of its life cycle. The report says the system struggled to recognise Scaphoideus titanus, a grapevine pest, because of midges caught at the same time, and reached only 70% on Ostrinia nubilalis, below the 95% headline claim.
What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
The project promised a smart trap combining automatic monitoring and prediction, delivered through xFarm's platform. The trap was built, tested in the field and brought to market. Accuracy varied by pest. CORDIS lists the project as closed.
- Smart trap hardwareDeliveredOn sale.
- Insect recognitionVaries70% to 100% by pest.
- Phenology predictionDeliveredField-tested.
- Company growthDelivered€36M Series C.
The Money
xFarm said in February 2023 that its roughly €1 million EIC award was "broken down into grants and equity investments". The Series C was led by Partech's impact fund with Mouro Capital, Swisscom Ventures, United Ventures and earlier investors, and was meant to fund expansion in Europe, Latin America, India, Turkey and the US. xFarm does not publish revenue, and xTrap's sales are not disclosed.
What Cannot Be Checked
Questions for the EIC
How much equity the EIC Fund put in, how many xTraps have been sold, xFarm's revenue and what the BlackRock partnership involves are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
The report cites pest losses of about 40% of food and €200 billion a year. The EIC's small investment supported one product inside a company that now describes itself as the leading global aggregator of farm data. The trap's contribution to that growth is not measurable from public data.
What the project promised
A smart trap that detects and predicts pest insects with over 95% accuracy, delivered through xFarm's platform.
What the record shows
A trap on sale, accuracy from 70% to 100% by pest, and a company that raised €36 million and keeps acquiring.
The Verdict
Product shipped, company scaling
xFarm delivered the trap it promised, and the company around it has kept raising money and buying rivals. How much xTrap itself contributes cannot be told from what the company publishes.
xFarm and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.
