PESSL INSTRUMENTS GMBH

Their core work

Pessl Instruments (brand name: METOS) is an Austrian SME that develops and manufactures environmental monitoring hardware and decision-support systems for agriculture and water management. Their core products include weather stations, soil sensors, and mobile measurement devices for on-site nutrient analysis. In H2020, they contributed sensor technology and field-level data infrastructure to projects spanning precision agriculture, wastewater reuse, microclimate management, and integrated pest management. Their MobiLab project — which they coordinated through both SME Instrument phases — developed a portable soil nutrient analyzer aimed at giving farmers real-time field data.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early period (2016–2017), Pessl focused on building their own product line — the MobiLab soil nutrient device — while contributing sensor technology to water treatment projects like RichWater and data infrastructure projects like EUXDAT. From 2019 onward, their involvement shifted toward applied environmental challenges: climate-resilient agriculture (STARGATE), sustainable water technologies (PAVITR), and biological pest management (IPM-Popillia). This evolution shows a company moving from pure hardware development toward integrated environmental monitoring solutions that combine sensors with ecological data and decision support.

Pessl is expanding from standalone sensor hardware into integrated monitoring platforms that serve broader environmental and agricultural decision-making, including pest surveillance and climate adaptation.

How they like to work

Pessl operates primarily as a technology partner embedded in larger consortia (5 of 7 projects as participant), contributing specialized monitoring hardware and data collection infrastructure. Their two coordinator roles were both for their own product development (MobiLab SME Instrument), which is typical of hardware SMEs using the SME Instrument for commercialization while joining RIA/IA projects to field-test their technology. With 71 unique partners across 17 countries, they maintain a broad and non-exclusive network, making them an accessible and experienced consortium partner.

Pessl has worked with 71 different organizations across 17 countries, indicating a wide European network built through diverse thematic projects. Their partnerships span universities, research institutes, and agri-tech companies across Southern, Central, and Western Europe.

What sets them apart

Pessl brings a rare combination: they are both a hardware manufacturer and a field data provider, meaning they can contribute physical sensors AND the data pipelines that make them useful in research settings. Unlike pure research partners, they have commercial products already on the market (METOS weather stations are used globally), which means their contributions to EU projects are grounded in real deployment experience. For consortium builders, they are a reliable SME partner that adds tangible monitoring infrastructure without requiring downstream product development.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MobiLab
  Their flagship product development — coordinated through both SME Instrument Phase 1 and Phase 2 (combined EUR 962K), building a mobile soil nutrient analyzer from concept to market.
• IPM-Popillia
  Largest single-project funding (EUR 314K as participant) and an unusual thematic expansion into invasive pest monitoring using citizen science and ecological modelling.
• STARGATE
  Demonstrates their pivot toward climate-smart agriculture, contributing microclimate monitoring to resilient farming systems.