GILAB DOO BEOGRAD

Their core work

GILAB is a Belgrade-based technology SME that applies Earth Observation (EO) and geospatial analysis to agricultural monitoring and environmental accounting. Their core competency is turning satellite imagery, drone data, and remote sensing datasets into actionable compliance and carbon-tracking services for the agri-food sector. In the DIONE project they built tools that automate CAP area-based compliance checks using EO and geo-tagged drone photos, replacing costly manual field inspections. More recently, through AgriCapture — which they coordinated — they developed Copernicus-powered services that measure soil carbon sequestration to support regenerative agriculture and carbon offset markets.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

GILAB entered H2020 through the regulatory compliance angle — using EO and drones to help verify that farmers met EU Common Agricultural Policy rules, a largely public-sector, inspection-driven application. Within one year they shifted toward soil carbon sequestration, regenerative agriculture, and carbon offset markets — a commercially driven, private-sector application of the same EO toolkit. This is a meaningful pivot: from serving government regulators checking rule-following, toward serving farmers and carbon market operators measuring environmental impact and monetising land stewardship.

GILAB is moving from public-sector regulatory services toward commercial carbon accounting and regenerative agriculture markets — a high-growth space where EO-based measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) capabilities will be increasingly in demand.

How they like to work

Despite having only two projects, GILAB has already taken on the coordinator role, leading AgriCapture with a €314k budget and managing a multi-country consortium — unusual for a young SME. They appear to join large, multi-partner consortia (20 unique partners across 10 countries from just 2 projects), suggesting they are comfortable operating in complex international settings. This dual experience as both participant and coordinator signals a company actively building towards independent project leadership rather than staying in a permanent support role.

With 20 unique consortium partners spread across 10 countries from only 2 projects, GILAB has built a surprisingly broad network for its size. Their collaboration footprint is pan-European, consistent with working in EO and agri-environment domains where consortia typically span Western and Southern Europe.

What sets them apart

GILAB occupies a rare niche among Western Balkan SMEs: a technically credible EO company with hands-on experience in both EU agricultural policy compliance and emerging carbon market applications. Most Serbian research actors in this space are universities; GILAB brings a commercial, product-oriented perspective with demonstrated ability to lead Innovation Actions. For consortium builders, they offer a cost-effective, technically capable partner with direct experience linking Copernicus data to real agricultural and carbon-accounting use cases.

Highlights from their portfolio

• AgriCapture
  GILAB served as coordinator — rare for a small Serbian SME — and the project addresses soil carbon sequestration for regenerative agriculture, placing it squarely in the high-demand carbon MRV market.
• DIONE
  A large multi-partner Innovation Action targeting modernisation of EU CAP compliance checks, demonstrating GILAB's ability to integrate with major European agri-policy technology consortia.