Lely Deutschland GmbH

What Lely Deutschland GmbH does

Lely Deutschland GmbH is the German operating subsidiary of Lely, a Netherlands-headquartered international family business specializing in agricultural automation for dairy farming. The company sells, installs, and services an integrated robotics portfolio covering nearly all activities in a dairy operation: automated milking (Astronaut, Astronaut Max, Dairy XL, Meteor), automated feeding (Vector, Juno, Calm), stall cleaning (Discovery Collector, Discovery Scraper, Sphere), animal welfare (Luna cow brush), and a farm management software layer (Horizon, Hub) that aggregates data across the deployed equipment. The underlying technology combines proprietary robotic hardware with embedded sensing and a centralized data platform that connects multi-vendor barn automation.

The company operates through an exclusive network of 11 Lely Centers across Germany (Wernberg, Grüb, Wenigenauma, Oberessendorf, Radebeul, Westerstede, Lindstedt, Köln, Böklund, Tuntenhausen), which act as regional sales, installation, and technical service partners. Revenue is generated primarily through capital equipment sales complemented by recurring service contracts, technical support, consumables, and a pre-owned refurbished equipment channel. Customers range from small family dairy farms to enterprise-scale operations (e.g., 1,200-cow Rischenhof running 27 Astronaut A5 robots across two locations), with no disclosed revenue, headcount, or pricing transparency at the German entity level.

Name

Lely Deutschland GmbH

Legal name

Lely

Website

https://lely.de

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Lely Deutschland GmbH is the German subsidiary of Dutch family-owned Lely, selling and servicing robotic milking, feeding, and barn cleaning systems for dairy farmers through 11 regional Lely Centers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Robotics / Dairy Farming Automation Equipment

NAICS

Farm Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing (333111), Support Activities for Animal Production (11521), Agricultural Implement Manufacturing (33311)

SIC

Farm Machinery & Equipment (3523), Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Automatic Milking Robots (AMS) (AFAAAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Livestock & Dairy Equipment (IMAHACAG), Milking Parlor & Dairy Farm Support Services (Non-veterinary) (AFAEALAK), Agricultural Robotics Integration, Retrofit & Automation Services (Kit installs, integration, maintenance) (AFAAAGAJ)

Keywords

• Dairy farm automation
• Robotic milking systems
• Agricultural robotics
• Automated livestock feeding
• Farm management software

Headquarters

HQ city

Waldstetten

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices11 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Agricultural Equipment Sales: Sale of automated farming equipment including robotic milking systems, feeding robots, and barn cleaning systems. Equipment is sold through the Lely Center network with installation and commissioning services.
2. Service and Support: Ongoing technical support, maintenance, and farm management support services provided through Lely Centers. Includes consumables and pre-owned equipment sales.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Lely Deutschland GmbH sells and services automated dairy farming equipment, including robotic milking systems (Astronaut, Astronaut Max, Dairy XL), automatic feeding systems (Vector, Juno, Calm), automated barn cleaning robots (Discovery Collector, Discovery Scraper, Sphere), and accompanying farm management software (Horizon, Hub). Products are installed, commissioned, and supported through a network of 11 Lely Centers located across Germany, with ongoing technical service, consumables, and pre-owned equipment offerings.

Product overview

Lely Deutschland GmbH offers a comprehensive portfolio of agricultural automation solutions for dairy farming, organized around five core areas: automated milking (Astronaut, Astronaut Max, Dairy XL, Meteor), automated feeding (Vector, Juno, Calm), stall cleaning (Discovery Collector, Discovery Scraper, Sphere), farm management software (Horizon, Hub), and latest innovations (Exos, Orbiter, Juno Max, Zeta). The product ecosystem is complemented by add-on solutions like the Luna cow brush and supported by a full range of services including technical support, consumables, and pre-owned equipment. The portfolio represents an integrated platform approach where multiple automation systems can work together, with Horizon and Hub serving as central data aggregation and management platforms connecting all farm automation equipment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Astronaut: Automatic milking robot system
• Vector
• Discovery
• Horizon
• Hub
• Juno
• Calm
• Sphere
• Exos
• Orbiter
• Luna
• Lely Center

Quantifiable outcome

• Feeding efficiency improvements and reduced operating costs
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Tetra Pak: Tetra Pak owns DeLaval and operates broadly across dairy processing and farming equipment; while larger and more diversified than Lely Deutschland, it is a relevant incumbent shaping the same dairy automation market.

Direct peers

• SAC (S.A. Christensen): SAC produces the RDS Futureline milking robot and other dairy automation products, addressing the same German and Northern European dairy farm segment as Lely Deutschland.
• GEA Group: GEA offers the DairyRobot R-series automated milking system alongside a broad dairy processing and farming equipment portfolio, competing head-to-head with Lely for German dairy farm installations.
• Afimilk: Afimilk provides automated milking systems and herd management software (AfiFarm) to dairy farmers, competing with Lely on both the milking robot and the farm management/data platform layer.
• Dairymaster: Dairymaster produces the Swiftflo Rotary and Mission Control milking systems plus automated feeding, offering dairy farmers an integrated alternative to Lely's milking/feeding stack.
• Fullwood Packo: Fullwood Packo markets the Merlin milking robot and cooling/storage systems, competing with Lely in the same European dairy equipment channel with comparable robotic milking capability.
• BouMatic Robotics: BouMatic sells automated milking robots (Gemini/MR-S) and dairy farm automation solutions in Europe, directly contesting Lely's Astronaut line for new and replacement milking installations.
• DeLaval: DeLaval is the leading direct competitor to Lely in robotic milking (VMS), feeding and dairy farm automation, serving the same German and European dairy farmer base with comparable hardware and service dealer networks.
• Hokofarm Group: Hokofarm's Lely competitor products include the Astronaut rival Vector-style automatic feeding systems (e.g., Trioliet/Güttler-adjacent lines), directly contesting Lely's Vector and Juno feeding robots.

Others

• MS Schippers: MS Schippers supplies dairy hygiene, bedding and farm consumables across Europe, serving as an adjacent ecosystem participant to Lely's installed robots and consumables business.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lely-deutschland-gmbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lely Deutschland GmbH