Gravity Gardens raises €2.6M for dry seed

Gravity Gardens, a Nijmegen-based AgTech startup, has raised €2.6 million to bring its dry seed activation technology to market. The funding round, a combination of equity and regional development funds, was led by VP Capital, Brightlands Venture Partners, and Graduate Ventures alongside private investors.

Founded in 2024 by CEO Paulino Valdés and CTO Robin Le Vigouroux, the company has developed a process that treats seeds without water, chemicals, or coatings. The technology was developed with support from the European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre. This Seed round follows earlier backing, bringing the startup's total funding to over €3 million.

The problem with conventional priming

Seed activation, the practice of improving seeds before planting, is a decades-old concept known to produce faster and more even emergence. The company states the core problem has never been effectiveness, but practicality. Conventional priming is a wet process involving hydrating seeds, holding them under controlled conditions, and then drying them again.

This method introduces handling constraints, capacity limits, and significant costs at every step. As a result, the economics have only ever made sense for high-value vegetable and flower seeds. For the vast majority of crops by volume, seed activation has never been a viable option.

A dry process targeting vigour

Gravity Gardens claims removing water from the process changes the fundamental economics. There is no hydration stage to control and nothing to dry afterwards. While traditional priming focuses on improving germination and uniformity, the startup says it is targeting vigour-how fast and strongly a crop establishes itself once planted.

Founder and CEO Paulino Valdés explained the distinction. "Every seed company in Europe has a seed lot that germinates at grade A quality on the bench and then disappoints in the field," he said. "Germination matters, but it is not the number that decides your season. Vigour is, and vigour is the first thing you lose."

He argues that the cost and complications of wet priming have limited its use. "What we have is dry, which takes those costs out. Cheap enough for field crops, and aimed at the thing that actually decides the season."

Validation and next steps

The company reports its technology has undergone seven external validation trials, including work with Vertify. It operates a facility in Nijmegen and runs programmes with partners like HLB and Oost NL. Investor Marcel Zijp of Brightlands Venture Partners said the platform "stimulates the plant’s natural power" and represents a step towards less chemical use.

The new capital will fund the development of industrial-scale equipment with Dutch engineering group Demcon and larger trial programmes across new crops. Gravity Gardens is targeting market readiness during 2027.

Investor Erica van Eeghen of VP Capital highlighted the foundational nature of the innovation. "Seeds are exactly that foundation," she said. "Gravity Gardens has developed a technology that could make stronger crop establishment accessible to many more farmers while using fewer natural resources."