19 May 2026, Germany: German agritech startup eternal.ag has appointed Roel Janssen as Chief Business Development Officer as the company advances its international growth plans and greenhouse automation strategy.
Roel Janssen
Janssen will support the company’s objective of automating greenhouse operations by 2040 by working directly with growers on the deployment of harvesting robots and the adoption of automation technologies.
[uam_ad id="80259"]
Before joining eternal.ag, Janssen worked with Planet Farms and previously led business development activities for Philips Lighting’s horticultural LED business and its spin-out company Signify. During his tenure, he collaborated with growers on improving crop yield, quality and harvest predictability using LED technologies, helping establish Signify’s position in horticultural lighting.
Eternal.ag said Janssen’s experience across Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region will support the company’s expansion plans across Europe and future entry into the North American market.
The company emerged from stealth in March after securing €8 million in funding and introduced its first commercial harvesting robot designed for tomato harvesting in greenhouses facing labor shortages. Earlier this month, eternal.ag also launched its omni-directional Trolley, a modular crop work platform that can later be upgraded into a fully autonomous Harvester system.
The funding raised by the company is being used for recruitment, product development and international expansion initiatives.
Janssen said the development of autonomous greenhouse robotics has reached a stage where scalable automated farming is becoming commercially viable. He added that he aims to work closely with growers to ensure the company’s technologies address long-term operational challenges and improve reliability in greenhouse production systems.
Renji John, co-founder and CEO of eternal.ag, said Janssen’s background in scaling horticultural technologies and international business operations will support the company’s global expansion plans.
Janssen will also represent eternal.ag at GreenTech Amsterdam, where the company plans to demonstrate its recently launched modular Trolley platform.
Global Agriculture is an independent international media platform covering agri-business, policy, technology, and sustainability. For editorial collaborations, thought leadership, and strategic communications, write to pr@global-agriculture.com
