Würzburg, 2 September 2026 — Co-founder and CEO Julius Wendling has been awarded the main prize of the DLG Young Talents Award 2026 by DLG President Hubertus Paetow at the DLG-Unternehmertage in Würzburg. The award, presented by the Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft (DLG), recognises outstanding young talent shaping the future of the agriculture and food industry. Wendling was selected from a shortlist of eight nominees, alongside special-prize winner Verena Wagner and junior-prize winner Annemarie Jung.
What the award recognises
The DLG Young Talents Award honours young professionals who combine technical expertise, active engagement and a clear sense of direction for their industry. On stage in Würzburg, Wendling presented aerotill’s air-injection technology for soil tillage, tracing it back to his doctoral research at the Technical University of Munich, where he demonstrated a traction-force reduction of up to 40 percent using an air cushion at the plough share. „The problem was simple,“ Wendling said of the origin. „Heavy soil tillage creates high friction losses, and I wanted to solve that. My doctoral research let me test exactly this, and it worked very well. The plan now is to bring the system to market in the near future.“ The main prize carries a 6,000 € stipend for further training, and all eight nominees — Wendling included — join a year-long DLG network mentoring programme combining personal mentoring, network events and opportunities to contribute actively within DLG committees.
Why this matters for aerotill
Recognition from one of the largest institutions in German agriculture is a strong external signal for an early-stage deep-tech start-up: that the problem aerotill is solving is real, that the technology holds up under scrutiny, and that the path from doctoral research to market is being taken seriously by the industry it aims to serve. The award follows a string of recent milestones — the official start of aerotill’s EXIST funding, the GANS26 pitch competition win, and growing conversations with manufacturers and investors — and adds further validation as the company moves toward field trials and market entry.
What comes next
aerotill continues preparing its air-injection technology for field deployment, alongside active partnership and investor conversations across the agricultural machinery sector. Julius will take part in the DLG’s network mentoring programme over the coming year. aerotill congratulates fellow prize winners Verena Wagner and Annemarie Jung, and thanks the DLG for the recognition and the ecosystem it provides to young talent across the industry.