Gearbox Innovations
Gearbox Innovations builds Vision-AI and robotics systems for automated quality control, sorting, and phenotyping in horticulture, serving vegetable growers, fruit packagers, floriculture operations, and breeders across 150+ customer accounts in the Netherlands and Europe.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersMaasdijk, Netherlands
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Gearbox Innovations does
Gearbox Innovations B.V. is a Dutch horticulture-technology company founded in 2016 in Maasdijk, Netherlands, specializing in Vision-AI and robotics for quality control, sorting, and phenotyping in vegetables, fruit, and floriculture. The company's product architecture is modular: a proprietary GearCore AI software platform powers a portfolio of hardware systems — GearStation (deployed in Vegetables, Fruit, and Floriculture variants) for inline quality inspection, GearVision for digital phenotyping used by breeders, EasyX for block pepper sorting, and the GearPerformer robotic sorter for point peppers operating at 12,000 units/hour. All solutions use cameras and proprietary vision algorithms that continuously self-train on customer-specific crop data, with integrations to labour registration (Ridder, My WorQ), processing line automation (TAKS, DV Automation), climate control (Priva), and BI dashboards (Power BI).
The company sells primarily through direct enterprise field sales to large horticulture operations, supplemented by a network of system integrators and channel partners. Revenue streams include hardware system sales (with GearStations now kept in stock for 2-3 week deployment), multi-year software subscriptions for GearCore and the Mission Control customer portal, professional services for installation and AI training, and ongoing spare parts and upgrades. Customers include Growers United (Schenkeveld, The Valley), LG Flowers, Hoek Group, Koelcentrum Zederik, Gubbels Kwekerijen, and Van den Bos Flowerbulbs, among 150+ total accounts. Quantified customer outcomes include 30-90% labour savings, 100% in-line quality control replacing sampling, up to 75% weight/inwicht savings, and 2-3 year ROI payback periods. The company has 50+ employees, achieved 640% revenue growth over four years (Deloitte Technology Fast 50, two consecutive years), holds a patent on its point pepper sorting disc, and in September 2025 acquired a minority stake in DV Automation to enter the pot plant vertical. Strategic priorities signaled by recent hires (Kees de Jonge, ex-Rabobank Food & Agri) include international expansion beyond the Netherlands.
Gearbox Innovations firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Gearbox Innovations
- Legal name
- Gearbox Innovations B.V.
- Website
- https://gearboxinnovations.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Gearbox Innovations builds Vision-AI and robotics systems for automated quality control, sorting, and phenotyping in horticulture, serving vegetable growers, fruit packagers, floriculture operations, and breeders across 150+ customer accounts in the Netherlands and Europe.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Gearbox Innovations is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Maasdijk
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Gearbox Innovations business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Hardware Systems (GearStation, GearPerformer, EasyX, GearVision): Sale of integrated hardware systems incorporating cameras, robotics, and proprietary AI. GearStations are now produced to stock (kept in inventory) enabling rapid deployment. Systems are installed in customers' processing lines and configured for specific crops and quality profiles.
- Software Subscriptions and Data Services: Ongoing software including GearCore platform, Mission Control customer portal, real-time dashboards and reporting. Software includes continuous AI training using customer data and remote support services.
- Implementation and Professional Services: Installation, configuration, AI training, and ongoing customer success support. Implementation involves training the AI on specific crops, integration with existing processing lines, and ongoing optimization. Gearbox provides remote support and periodic meetings for system improvement.
- Spare Parts and Upgrades: Ongoing revenue from spare parts, software updates, and hardware upgrades as systems are continuously optimized.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | GearStation — AI-driven quality control systems for horticulture |
| Other | Multi-year contract | GearVision — digital phenotyping and quality inspection |
| Other | Multi-year contract | GearPerformer — robotic sorting for point peppers |
| Other | Multi-year contract | EasyX — automated quality control for block peppers |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels9 records
Gearbox Innovations product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Gearbox Innovations designs, manufactures, and sells AI-driven vision and robotics systems for in-line quality control, sorting, and digital phenotyping in the horticulture sector. Its product lines — GearStation (Vegetables, Fruit, Floriculture), GearVision, EasyX, and GearPerformer — combine cameras, proprietary AI algorithms, and modular hardware/software building blocks (the GearCore platform) to automate inspection of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, fruit, flowers, and bulbs. The company sells primarily to enterprise horticulture growers, breeders, and packers across Europe, with pilots used to demonstrate ROI before full deployment.
Product overview
Gearbox Innovations offers a modular platform architecture called GearCore that powers multiple product lines for intelligent automation in horticulture. The core products include: GearStation (available for Vegetables, Fruit, and Floriculture) - AI-driven inline quality control systems using cameras and vision AI for automated inspection; GearVision - digital phenotyping platform for breeders; EasyX - sorting and quality inspection for block peppers; and GearPerformer - robotic sorting solution for pointed peppers. Products share common hardware and software building blocks, enabling them to reinforce each other technically. The portfolio addresses vegetables (tomatoes, peppers), fruit (grapes, berries), and floriculture (roses, gerberas, bouquets), serving over 150 customers with 100+ operational solutions worldwide.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- GearStation Vegetables: AI-driven quality control solution for vegetable processing lines, assessing quality and weight of products in boxes, crates, or punnets.
- GearStation Fruit
- GearStation Horticulture
- GearVision
- EasyX
- GearPerformer
Products and services
- GearStation Vegetables AI-driven inline quality control system for vegetables that assesses quality and weight of products in boxes, punnets, crates or pallets using cameras and AI. Designed for greenhouse vegetable packers and processors needing 40% labour savings and 100% quality control.
- GearStation Fruit Compact inline AI-driven quality control solution for soft fruit and fruit in punnets, trays, and clamshell packaging. Handles up to 120 punnets per minute with 360-degree assessment and 30-50% labour savings, designed for fruit packagers and importers.
- GearStation Floriculture AI-driven vision solution for floriculture providing 100% inline AI quality inspection of work delivered by humans, transporters or machines at 12,000 flowers/hour. Detects flower marks, abnormalities, damage, deformation, discolouration, and mould, designed for flower growers, bouquet assemblers, and exporters.
- GearVision Digital phenotyping platform combining high-quality camera techniques with proprietary AI to analyze fruits and crops for breeding programs and automated quality control. Detects fruit characteristics, abnormalities, weight, size, colour, and internal quality (e.g., brix), targeted at plant breeders, growers, and packers.
- EasyX Sorting and quality inspection system for block peppers that automates inline quality control using vision and AI on new and existing processing lines. Provides 100% labour savings at quality control and 20-40% insight reduction with real-time reporting per day, batch, and supplier.
- GearPerformer AI-driven robotic sorting solution for pointed peppers combining vision, AI-based quality assessment, and advanced weighing methodology with robotics. Sorts at 12,000 items/hour with 40-80% labour savings and 20-50% claim reduction; ROI under 3 years.
- GearRover Crop inspection and harvest assistance trolley that travels on tubular rail through greenhouses, using cameras and AI to detect flowers or vegetables ready for harvest based on grower-defined ripeness settings. Designed for rose, gerbera, tomato, and pepper growers.
Quantifiable outcome
- 640% growth over four years (2022–2026)
- +12 more outcomes
Companies that use Gearbox Innovations
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Gearbox Innovations technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
AI capability7 records
Feature9 records
Gearbox Innovations partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- DV AutomationcoreGearbox took a stake in DV Automation to jointly serve the pot plant sector. DV Automation brings 25+ years of pot plant market experience (orchids, kalanchoe, anthuriums) as a system integrator. Combined expertise enables vision solutions, control systems, AI, and robotics for pot plant growers. Joint office in Berkel en Rodenrijs.
- TAKS Handling SystemscoreSystem integrator for logistics and processing lines. Integrated GearStation into TAKS conveyor/palletising systems at customer sites including Schenkeveld and The Valley. Essential for deployment in existing tomato processing workflows.
- RiddercoreTechnology partner providing labour registration systems integrated with GearStation. The Valley uses Ridder labour registration linked to GearStation data for employee performance management and bonus systems.
- Wageningen University & Research (WUR)coreWUR is independently validating the GearPerformer sorting robot's product quality performance versus current manual methods. Part of NPPL-R program. Provides technical guidance on defining quality criteria for robots and integrating machine data with business management systems.
- FlorpartnersminorCoordination organisation supporting gerbera growers in adopting GearStation automation. Coordinated visit of nine leading gerbera growers to LG Flowers to see GearStation Gerbera in full production.
- Harvest House / FrestiacoreGrower cooperative and member Frestia co-developed the GearPerformer point pepper sorting robot with Gearbox. Frestia (40 ha, Netherlands and Portugal) served as development partner for practical testing. WUR also involved in validating the robot.
- VITO Remote SensingminorHost of CROP Innovation & Business conference session on phenotyping. Gearbox CEO participated in session on 'From Data to Decisions: Phenotyping as a Driver of Crop Innovation'. VITO focuses on remote sensing and Earth observation technology.
- Van den Bos FlowerbulbsminorCustomer-partner who worked with Gearbox to develop the GearVision freesia bulb sorting machine. Van den Bos provided the business challenge and operational requirements; Gearbox designed and built the machine. Long 5-year co-development process.
- NPPL-R ProgramminorNational Precision Planting & Robotics program for horticulture. WUR involved in independently validating GearPerformer through this program.
- Porta NovaminorRenowned rose nursery that collaborated with Gearbox on developing the GearRover for rose harvesting assistance. Collaboration accelerated the development process.
- Berg RosesminorRose nursery collaborating with Gearbox on GearRover development for rose harvesting assistance.
- Van Veen GerberaminorGerbera nursery collaborating with Gearbox on GearRover development for gerbera harvesting assistance.
- Colours of NatureminorNursery collaborating with Gearbox on GearRover development for flower harvesting assistance.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Gearbox Innovations competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- TOMRA: Global leader in sensor-based sorting and grading equipment for food, recycling and mining. Directly comparable to Gearbox in vision-based fruit/vegetable sorting, but at much larger scale and broader portfolio including the TOMRA Food division that addresses exactly Gearbox's produce-sorting niche.
Direct peers
- ISO Group: Dutch supplier of harvesting robots and automated systems for greenhouse vegetables and cut flowers. Direct competitor to GearRover in the harvest-assist robotics niche, complementing Gearbox's quality-control line.
- Ellips: Dutch software specialist for optical sorting and grading of fruit and vegetables, embedded into many global packhouse lines. Highly comparable to GearVision / GearCore as a vision-AI software platform serving the same horticultural grading workflows.
- Aweta: Specialised manufacturer of sorting and grading machinery for fruit, vegetables and flowers, headquartered in the same Dutch horticulture corridor as Gearbox. Closest direct comp in terms of product category (optical grading lines) and customer base (Dutch packers and exporters).
- GP Graders: Manufacturer of electronic grading machines for blueberries, cherries, tomatoes and other small fruit/vegetables. Direct competitor in optical sorting for soft fruit and cherry tomato packs, the categories GearStation Fruit addresses.
- Maf Roda: International supplier of handling, sorting and packing solutions for fresh fruit and vegetables, with strong presence in citrus, apples and stone fruit. Competes head-on with GearStation Fruit and EasyX for in-line quality inspection on producer/packer processing lines.
Emerging players
- Saga Robotics: Norwegian agtech deploying autonomous UV-C and harvesting robots in greenhouses (strawberries, tomatoes). Comparable vision/robotics platform targeting the same Dutch and European high-tech greenhouse customers as Gearbox, though focused on crop protection and harvesting rather than sorting.
- Source.ag: Amsterdam-based AI platform for greenhouse cultivation optimisation serving Dutch and international growers. Adjacent competitor in data-driven horticulture and a potential partner-or-rival for Gearbox's growing data and AI capabilities.
- Octinion: Belgian R&D company that has developed soft-fruit picking robots and other agricultural automation products. Comparable in vision-driven robotics for horticulture but at smaller commercial scale, focused on strawberries/peppers — a similar niche to GearPerformer.
- 30MHz: Dutch horticulture data and sensor platform providing real-time greenhouse analytics. Adjacent to GearSense/GearVision and competes for the same grower's technology budget for data-driven cultivation decisions.
Market position
Strengths6 records
Weaknesses6 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Gearbox Innovations social profiles
Digital presenceGearbox Innovations financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Gearbox Innovations leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Gearbox Innovations subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Gearbox Innovations funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Gearbox Innovations M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Gearbox Innovations
What does Gearbox Innovations do?
Gearbox Innovations designs, manufactures, and sells AI-driven vision and robotics systems for in-line quality control, sorting, and digital phenotyping in the horticulture sector. Its product lines — GearStation (Vegetables, Fruit, Floriculture), GearVision, EasyX, and GearPerformer — combine cameras, proprietary AI algorithms, and modular hardware/software building blocks (the GearCore platform) to automate inspection of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, fruit, flowers, and bulbs. The company sells primarily to enterprise horticulture growers, breeders, and packers across Europe, with pilots used to demonstrate ROI before full deployment.
Is Gearbox Innovations a public or private company?
Gearbox Innovations is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Gearbox Innovations founded?
Gearbox Innovations was founded in 2016. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Gearbox Innovations based?
Gearbox Innovations is headquartered in Maasdijk, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does Gearbox Innovations make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Hardware Systems (GearStation, GearPerformer, EasyX, GearVision) is the primary driver. The others are software Subscriptions and Data Services, implementation and Professional Services and spare Parts and Upgrades.
Who are Gearbox Innovations's main competitors?
TOMRA is listed as a broad incumbent. Direct peers are ISO Group, Ellips, Aweta, GP Graders and Maf Roda. Emerging players are Saga Robotics, Source.ag, Octinion and 30MHz.
Does Gearbox Innovations have an API?
Yes. GearVision offers data access through 'slimme API's' (smart APIs) enabling connections with other software packages. The API allows data from quality assessments to be unlocked and integrated with other systems.