M&A
Source.ag acquires Optimal, London AI greenhouse control startup
October 9, 2026
AI & Data
M&A
Key Facts
Signal Type
M&A
Industry
AI & Data
Companies
Source.ag, Optimal, Agro Care, Founders Fund, Astanor Ventures
Date
October 9, 2026
Source.ag, the Amsterdam-based AI platform for greenhouse growers, acquired Optimal, a London startup that built one of the first AI systems to autonomously control a commercial greenhouse. Optimal's AI directly manages heating, ventilation, lighting, CO₂, and irrigation through existing hardware, using proprietary physics and ML models to plan days ahead and re-optimize in real time. In a Dutch commercial-scale greenhouse, it delivered 13% more yield with 27% less energy than the benchmark grower.
Source.ag—the acquirer with 500+ greenhouses across 25 countries, supporting €2.5B of annual production and 13 of the world’s 25 largest high-tech growers. Optimal—the target, whose founder Dave Hunter joins Source as VP Autonomous Control, along with Optimal's engineering team. Agro Care, one of Europe's largest greenhouse tomato producers and a Source customer, plans to be among the first to use the autonomous control system.
The first autonomous deployments at Source customers in Europe and North America go live this winter. Source then plans to extend its AI suite to more crops, growing methods, and regions, potentially accelerating the adoption of physical AI in controlled-environment agriculture.
Source:
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