About

IONOS trades agricultural drones and develops parts and their software. Focusing on spot and precision covering spraying, yield and crop index monitoring, disease and parasite detection, trains pilots according to the needs of each crop.

Solution & Product

The ground spraying of crops, either by tractors or by human hands, has intensified due to the growing global demand for more raw materials and food. This leads to the demand for more natural resources and pesticides and increases carbon emissions. The constant stress of the soil with the use of tractors exhausts its productivity and drives the phenomenon of desertification. The combination of using large quantities of water and pesticides intensifies the phenomenon of the drift effect, creating significant problems for beneficial organisms and public health. IONOS proposes and implements the use of UAVs for the precision spraying of arable and tree crops, and has developed an innovative spraying system. According to the integrated research program EXARCHOS 2020, which took place in inaccessible areas of Crete, forest protection was applied both on the ground and in the air with the use of drones. The results for the drone operations are very encouraging. It took 3.2 times less time and 5 times less amount of spray liquid than ground application, enabling precision agriculture to be applied on a large scale. (the Agriculture-Livestock magazine, Agrotypos publications, issue 6, June 2021).

Innovation & Scalability

IONOS is entering aerial robotic technology in agricultural spraying applications. The use of state-of-the-art software and hardware in contrast to traditional agricultural work is innovation. Additionally, IONOS has developed a precision spraying system with patent submission, which can be applied to drones with a modification. It specializes in the method of spraying, making it more precise and sufficient, changing the framework of spraying in tree crops. IONOS participates in a European network of academies based in Brussels, with its team being responsible for the network's agricultural drone training (European Drone School), because of the important operational experience. The overall software-hardware development of the product, the training, and the implementation process in the market is a unique and high-value solution, and a competitive advantage, because IONOS has actually found a way to fight fruit fly tree crops enemies successfully, in an environmentally friendly way. The market to which IONOS addresses is, a) the agricultural and livestock enterprises, b) the 900 Agricultural Cooperatives and their Associations, c) Farmers groups, d) Agronomists and farms supplies stores, e) Universities and Research Institutes, f) Olive oil mills, g) Municipalities - State Regions for the care of urban green spaces.

Traction & achievements

-3/2019 Cooperate with ΤΤΑ(https://www.ttaviation.org/), entering in Agri drones and training -5/2020 Granting experimental permission from Min.Agri(http://www.minagric.gr/index.php/en/) -6/2020 Launching EXARCHOS 2020 with HM(https://www.hmu.gr/), using drones in olive yards treatment -8/2020 Project Intelligent Aerial Farming Pest Control with Sundance (https://www.sundance.com/) and Nottingham Trent University(https://www.ntu.ac.uk/) -2/2021 Innovation project ActPhast 4.0 (https://company.actphast.eu/en), with FORTH (https://pmdl.iesl.forth.gr/) and Un. of Southampton (https://www.orc.soton.ac.uk/), by the supporting of BPI (https://en.bpi.gr/) -4/2021 Elm Project -5/2021 IONEL, Project for rice with Gowan (https://www.gowanco.com/) and Elanko (https://www.elanco.gr/) -6/2021 EXARCHOS 2021, Regions of Crete, Thessaly, Ionian islands with HMU (https://www.hmu.gr/), NAGREF (http://www.nagref-cha.gr/), UTH (https://www.uth.gr/)

Team & Why Us

According to current EU law for spraying operations, and the new EASA UAS regulations, IONOS team has valuable flight experience in all types of crops, has an expertise law partner, and is in the pantheon of the first companies in the EU with official permissions for drone spraying operations, skilled engineering partners, and specialized training instructors in Agri operations. - CEO: Long experience in Banking as a business loan consultant, UAS instructor, and specific category remote pilot. - Lawyer: Focused on law procedures consultancy for UAS spraying operations. - Financial analyst: Analyze the economic impact of UAS in agriculture. - Specialist Occupational & Environmental Doctor: AgriDrones spraying operations impact analysis on Environment and Human resources. - Business Developer: Long experience in banking insurance, specific category UAS remote pilot and Instructor. - Academy manager: Expert for safety and risk assessment operations at ground and cabin crew staff, specific category UAS remote pilot. - Instructors: Experts in Aviation science, with high experience and flight hours on maned fixed wings and helicopters. Ground and air training for UAS spraying operations is their passion.

Funding Needs

A barrier is the lack of financial resources that can occur and prevent the growth of the company. Other innovative teams and possible individual investors could help to bring the future closer and faster, in a smooth and secure way.