Antonie

About Antonie

Antonie is a Dutch agri-tech company founded in October 2021 by Bob Klein Lankhorst, Peter den Hartog, and Jerome H. Mol. It combines expertise in soil biology, AI, data science, and company scaling to build tools that make soil life measurable and actionable.

The company focuses on improving soil health through AI-powered monitoring and diagnostics. Its solutions are aimed at farmers, agronomists, researchers, seed breeders, laboratories, and policymakers who need better insight into soil biodiversity, crop performance, and field-level decision-making.

Antonie positions itself as a bridge between biology and digital technology: using automated microscopy, AI image analysis, and data-driven reporting to turn complex soil and crop signals into standardized insights that support more resilient and sustainable agriculture.

Core Values

• Improving soil health: Antonie’s central mission is to reveal hidden biological life in soil and use that knowledge to support healthier soils and more resilient cropping systems.
• Data-driven decision-making: The company emphasizes objective, standardized, reproducible measurements so users can base agronomic choices on evidence rather than manual interpretation alone.
• Sustainability and regeneration: Antonie frames its work around regenerative agriculture, biodiversity, and climate-resilient land management, with the goal of supporting more sustainable food systems.
• Collaboration and knowledge sharing: The company regularly works with farmers, laboratories, researchers, and industry partners, reflecting a belief that biological insight becomes most valuable when combined with practical expertise.

Unique Aspects

• Nematode-focused soil intelligence: Antonie specializes in nematodes as key indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem services, using them as a biological window into soil health.
• AI plus automated microscopy: Its LIFE Monitor combines high-speed imaging with AI-driven classification, replacing much of the subjectivity and bottleneck of manual microscopy.
• Strategic industry backing: Bejo took an equity stake in Antonie as part of a €2 million seed round, following earlier growth financing from Royal Eijkelkamp.
• First-in-market laboratory adoption in the Netherlands: HLB selected Antonie to introduce automated biological soil analysis into its laboratory workflows, making HLB the first Dutch laboratory to integrate LIFE Monitor into plant diagnostics and nematology.
• Soil Valley co-founding role: Antonie is a co-founder of Soil Valley, a Dutch innovation ecosystem with more than 30 partners focused on soil, water, biodiversity, and climate-resilient land management.