Frankfurt, 7 May 2026 — aerotill has won the start-up pitch competition at the Growth Alliance Networking Summit 2026 (GANS26), hosted by Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank and TechQuartier on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The jury placed aerotill ahead of finalists Drought Analytics and Veclin.
Co-founder Julius Wendling presented the company’s patent-pending air-lubrication technology for soil tillage on stage in a three-minute pitch, followed by three minutes of Q&A with the jury. The win comes with a 5,000 € prize and, more importantly, visibility within the German AgriFood ecosystem that brings the summit together: more than 300 guests from start-ups, industry, science, policy and media.
What aerotill does
aerotill injects compressed air through the plough share, creating an air cushion between the tool and the soil. The effect: less friction between metal and ground, lower fuel consumption, and longer service life of the wear parts. According to coverage by top agrar, the technology can reduce traction force by up to 40 percent during ploughing. Patents have been filed in the EU, the US and China.
The relevance is structural rather than niche. Even as no-till practices gain ground, more than 90 percent of European agricultural land is still mechanically tilled. Every percentage point of fuel saved on that surface area adds up quickly, both in operating cost for farmers and in CO₂ emissions across the sector.
Why this win matters
For an early-stage deep-tech start-up, external validation matters. A jury made up of Rentenbank, TechQuartier and BMEL representatives placing aerotill first is exactly the kind of signal that confirms aerotill is on the right track: that the technology answers a real problem in European agriculture, that the team can communicate it credibly, and that the path from research to field is taken seriously by the institutions shaping the future of farming in Germany.
The win arrives just weeks after the official start of aerotill’s exist funding on 1 April 2026, and falls into the same phase as the launch of the company’s website and LinkedIn presence. The momentum is intentional: aerotill is moving from a research-driven origin into a phase of public visibility, partnership building, and pilot preparation.
What comes next
The technology will be extended from ploughing to cultivator applications, broadening the range of operations in which air lubrication can reduce traction force and fuel use. In parallel, aerotill is in active conversations with farmers, contractors, manufacturers and investors about the next phase.
aerotill thanks Growth Alliance, Rentenbank, TechQuartier, TUM Venture Labs and exist for an ecosystem that makes wins like this possible, and congratulates fellow finalists Drought Analytics and Veclin on strong pitches and strong teams.