Founder of the month: Prefiro
24.04.2025
Emma Schmitt
Founder of the month
Harvesting asparagus with robots? It sounds like something from the future, but it's already a reality! The founding team at Prefiro develops smart robotics systems for agriculture. Their focus: special crops that grow close to the ground, such as green asparagus and saffron. Using cameras and AI, the robot knows exactly when and where to harvest – and can adapt flexibly to different plant species. This makes harvesting more efficient, more cost-effective, and easy to integrate into existing operations.
Prefiro interviewed
We spoke with founder Lorenzo – you can find the entire conversation with even more insights on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Prefiro stands for tackling real problems in a practical way and creating solutions with sustainable innovation – especially in the field of agriculture. Their goal is to create real added value through modern technology while driving sustainable change.
Our start-up of the month has received several more awards in recent months. In addition to the CyberForum Innovation Award 2024, Prefiro recently won the Road to Start Summit in Stuttgart and the AI Start-up Award from t3n and data:unplugged.
Where and how did you come up with the brilliant idea to start the company?
The idea came about during Frieder’s studies when he came across the world’s most expensive spice – saffron. Due to the high price resulting from pure manual labor, he, who grew up on a farm, immediately wondered whether the harvest could be automated. The first prototypes worked well, and we have since become one of the largest saffron farmers in Germany. However, since we wanted to develop automation technology from the outset, we were looking for a field of application with a greater impact. That’s how we came across green asparagus through regional farmers in early 2024.
How did the founding team come together?
The original team formed around the idea of saffron. Other co-founders joined us as part of the “Grow” program run by Pioniergarage. There were some turbulent times when the project was on the brink of collapse, but in the end, Frieder and Lorenzo emerged as the clear founders.
What is your big vision?
Our vision is to automate labor-intensive processes in agriculture. There are still so many manual steps, and we want to be the next generation of combine harvesters for specialty crops.
Where do you see significant hurdles in the start-up process?
The biggest challenges are operational: schedules are tight and budgets are always tight – that’s almost the norm. Especially in the beginning, as a young team, you are often not taken seriously, but this has improved significantly over the last year. Added to this are administrative hurdles and the fact that it is extremely difficult to obtain early-stage risk capital from the business community in Germany, even though there are very good government support programs and public interest is definitely there.
A key challenge was building a functioning team and recruiting the first employees. Then there was the financing – as a capital-intensive start-up, it’s not easy to convince risk-averse investors.
Where did you get support?
We have great mentors who have helped us move forward with a calm outside perspective and targeted questions – special thanks go to Dirk Franke. The CyberForum also provided us with strong support, and the KIT Gründerschmiede was a great help, especially in building up our network.
Has anything changed for you since you were formally established?
We have become more professional and have more responsibility—toward the government, our employees, and investors—and we have significantly improved our public image. In addition, there is now a clear separation between private and company funds.
How did you solve the problem of follow-up financing?
We started with the EXIST and JI funding programs and spun off on that basis. This was followed by a complex pre-seed financing round – a process that is still ongoing.
Are global crises having an impact on your startup?
Actually, the shortage of skilled workers is having a positive effect on us in a way, as it makes automation even more relevant. At the same time, however, we are also noticing how dependent we often are on China – even when we try to source locally, it is not only cheaper there, but sometimes even faster.
What are your next big milestones?
This season, we want to demonstrate our harvesting machine directly in the field to farmers for the first time. At the same time, we are working on the technical completion of our first pre-production model, want to expand our team, and start a new round of financing.
In your opinion, what qualities should a founder have?
Enthusiasm for your own topic is essential – motivation and passion are the driving force. Equally important are openness to new approaches, the ability to reflect on yourself, and a clear focus on the essentials. The latter is often difficult, but you learn it over time.
Do you have any tips for other founders?
Definitely: always talk to the customer first before you start developing! The customer’s problems come first – sell, then develop. And: there will always be a crunch – that’s just part of it.
We would also prioritize more strictly from the outset and, especially since the crunch never ends, pay more attention to our own limits.
