At SAIA Agrobotics, tomato plants don’t grow from the ground up, but from the top down. Hanging from above on moving tracks, every single plant travels through the greenhouse like a living production line.

Like a car through a wash, each plant passes sensors and robotic arms, its health, growth and ripeness are checked automatically. The result: each plant receives exactly what it needs, at precisely the right moment. This isn’t just a clever trick, it’s a revolution in how we grow food. Because by reducing manual work and making every movement count, SAIA cuts labour by half, while improving yields and consistency.
  

Growing a smarter future

Across the world, the demand for fresh fruit and vegetables is rising. But extreme weather, water scarcity and labour shortages are putting traditional farming under pressure. Indoor farming offers the solution, controlled environments, higher productivity, but to make it truly scalable, we need automation that works in harmony with nature. That’s where SAIA steps in. Their patented vertical growing system makes each plant moveable, visible and measurable from all sides.

Image

Robotic arms and sensors perform automated checks
 

SAIA’s approach is more than robotics, it’s a new production paradigm. By combining a patented vertical growing method with mobile plant carriers, AI-driven crop insight and the world’s fastest robotic harvester, the system automates repetitive, labour-intensive tasks. Results? Labour savings of around 50% today, with scope to exceed 80% once the platform scales. That makes high-tech greenhouse growing possible and affordable in more places, from family farms to large commercial growers.
 

SAIA champions a transition to data-driven, autonomous ‘food factories’ - modular greenhouses where plants move, data drives every decision, and robots harvest with millimetre precision. Born from Wageningen University & Research know-how, proven in a test greenhouse in the Netherlands, SAIA is moving indoor farming from promise to practice. Feeding more people sustainably means rethinking how we grow. Because feeding a growing world isn’t just about producing more, it’s about producing better.

Image credits: SAIA Agrobotics.

Image

#newdutch is a mentality, a movement, and an international platform for Dutch innovation.

Get in touch

Does #newdutch spark an interest or a golden idea with you? We love hearing from you! You can email us at newdutch@nlbranding.nl
 

Download the latest hydrogen guide, which highlights innovative solutions from the Dutch hydrogen sector and features ambitious Dutch companies and flagship projects ready to drive the European and global hydrogen market forward.

Download the Dutch Offshore Wind Innovation Guide 2026, which highlights innovative solutions from the Dutch offshore wind sector and features ambitious Dutch companies and flagship projects ready to drive the European and global offshore wind market forward.

The textile industry is ready for a transformation. For decades, it has leaned on oil-based synthetics and animal-derived fibres, materials that cost the planet more than they should.

Every day, hairdressers sweep away kilos of hair that could be something more. Strong, renewable, and full of keratin, the same protein found in wool, human hair is one of the most underused biomaterials on Earth. We collect these clippings, clean and process them using gentle, low-energy methods, and spin them into ādara®, the first commercial fibre of the Human Material Loop.
 

Durable, traceable, and kind to the planet

Made entirely from upcycled human hair, ādara® offers the warmth and softness of wool without the cruelty, plastics, or allergens. It’s naturally fire-retardant, antibacterial, and hypoallergenic. It regulates temperature and moisture, making it ideal for interiors and textiles that feel as good as they do good. Each strand of ādara® is fully traceable, from the salon floor to the final fabric roll. By collaborating directly with hairdressers, The Human Material Loop builds a transparent and ethical supply chain.
 

Image

ādara® is a 100% biobased protein fiber created for interiors. 
 

The Human Material Loop process uses mild salts and low temperatures, reducing energy use while keeping the natural strength of keratin intact. No toxins, no microplastics, just a clean loop of human material turned into high-performance textiles. Every step is tracked, and a digital product passport is in the works to show the complete journey of their material.
 

It's not just rethinking fibres, The Human Material Loop is rethinking responsibility. How they source, produce, and value materials in design. With ādara®, it offers architects, interior designers, and textile innovators a tangible path toward a circular future. The Human Material Loop shows their innovation at Architect@Work, Workspace Design Show, Heimtextil, and more. If you’re a designer seeking sustainable materials, or an investor ready to back a radical, scalable solution, take a look and join them. Because the next revolution in textiles isn’t synthetic. It’s human.
 

Image

#newdutch is a mentality, a movement, and an international platform for Dutch innovation.

Get in touch

Does #newdutch spark an interest or a golden idea with you? We love hearing from you! You can email us at newdutch@nlbranding.nl
 

From bulletproof skin to clothing made from manure, Jalila Essaïdi transforms scientific breakthroughs into poetic statements about the future of humanity and nature. Her work is visionary, experimental, circular, and collaborative.

Essaïdi first gained worldwide attention with her project 2.6g 329m/s, also known as ‘Bulletproof skin’. Working with scientists at her own BioArt Laboratory in Eindhoven, she integrated spider silk, one of the strongest natural fibres on Earth, into human skin cells. The result: a hybrid material strong enough to stop a bullet fired at reduced speed. What began as an art experiment soon became a catalyst for global conversation about how which forms of safety would benefit society.
 

Essaïdi explores the social, political, ethical, and cultural questions that arise in a world shaped by new biotechnologies. Project 2.6g 329m/s received international attention and even drew interest from the U.S. military. Rather than selling her patent to the highest bidder, Essaïdi turned her invention toward healing. The same silk-based material is now being developed as a regenerative dressing for burn victims and chronic wounds, turning protection into restoration  - a natural, biodegradable skin that helps the body heal itself.

Image

A bullet wrapped in a piece of in vitro skin attached to a block ballistic gell. 
 

Her curiosity didn’t stop there. Through her biotech company Inspidere, Essaïdi created Mestic®, an innovation that transforms cow manure into textiles, paper, and bioplastics. The project challenges our instinctive aversion to waste. Because in nature, nothing is truly waste. By revealing the hidden value of what we discard, Mestic® shows that even the most unpleasant materials can hold beauty and potential. By turning waste into value, she redefines what circular design can look like.
 

Essaïdi is the CEO of Inspidere B.V., a biotech company based in the Brainport region of Eindhoven. She continues to mentor the next generation of bio-designers at her BioArt Laboratories, developing nature-based solutions for global challenges such as CO₂ capture and sustainable materials. It fosters collaboration between life sciences and the creative industries. Jalila Essaïdi embodies New Dutch, where innovation grows from curiosity, collaboration, and the belief that nature and technology belong on the same team.
 

Image

#newdutch is a mentality, a movement, and an international platform for Dutch innovation.

Get in touch

Does #newdutch spark an interest or a golden idea with you? We love hearing from you! You can email us at newdutch@nlbranding.nl
 

In Maastricht, a unique research hub is reshaping how we understand the cosmos. ETpathfinder is the testing ground for the Einstein Telescope, Europe’s next-generation underground gravitational wave observatory.

Here, researchers are developing the ultra-precise instruments and sensors that will allow humanity to ‘listen’ to the universe itself. And that isn’t science fiction. Every mirror, every laser, every sensor at ETpathfinder must operate at unimaginable precision; some so sensitive they measure distortions smaller than the diameter of a proton. To achieve this, ETpathfinder pioneers cryogenic technology, cooling silicon mirrors to near absolute zero to silence even the tiniest vibrations. Only then can the faintest whispers of gravitational waves be detected.
 

Giving the universe a voice

ETpathfinder is a bridge between Earth and space. The expertise developed here is shaping next-generation space missions, including ESA and NASA’s LISA telescope, designed to detect ripples in spacetime across the galaxy. The cryogenic systems, ultra-stable optics, and quantum-enhanced measurements tested in Maastricht are setting the stage for instruments that will explore the universe in ways previously unimaginable. Dutch institutes like Nikhef, Maastricht University, SRON, and TNO bring decades of expertise in laser communication, precision optics, and quantum technology together under one roof.

Image

Render of the placement and workings of the Einstein Telescope. ©Marco Kraan/Nikhef
 

When quantum meets space

International partners join forces here to prototype and refine the innovations that will make the Einstein Telescope a reality. Quantum squeezing, low-noise sensors, and advanced cryogenic shields, every technology is tested in ETpathfinder’s ultra-quiet environment before being deployed on a global stage. ETpathfinder demonstrates how Dutch know-how is indispensable to high-tech science worldwide. From fundamental physics to space exploration, this living laboratory is pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible.

Image

The ETpathfinder in Maastricht. ©ETpathfinder
 

From Maastricht to the cosmos

In Maastricht, the test hub brings together fundamental physics, quantum technology, and space engineering, making it far more than ‘just’ a physics experiment. Over the past year, ETpathfinder has grown into the nerve centre of European gravitational-wave technology. This demonstrates how the Netherlands, far from the traditional centres of space exploration, has become indispensable to high-tech science on a global scale. From this place, researchers are shaping the next era of cosmic discovery, from black holes to the origins of the universe. That’s New Dutch!
 

Image

#newdutch is a mentality, a movement, and an international platform for Dutch innovation.

Get in touch

Does #newdutch spark an interest or a golden idea with you? We love hearing from you! You can email us at newdutch@nlbranding.nl