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About us

Octinion is an innovative R&D company mainly active in the agriculture and food industry

Our story

Our story

Our mission at Octinion is bringing innovative automation solutions to our customers. We take on mechatronic product development projects, and we have a line of test & measurement solutions. Some of our core values are:

  • “Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler” (Albert Einstein)
  • Our customers are our partners
  • Quality & service

Octinion is a first-generation family business, controlled by its founders. We're driven by creation, and believe it's essential to think out of the box to create truly innovative new applications. 

Our team

Our team
2019 bbq

Our team consists of experienced engineers and technicians, all experts in their field. We are driven by technology, and are experienced in thinking out-of-the-box to solve any problem that comes our way. We have experts in mechatronic system design, electronics, embedded software, vision systems, test & measurement and control technology.

If you are eager to join a dynamic environment, creating the products of the future, check out our jobs page!

Our management team is a mix of people with different backgrounds but with one common passion: they're all driven by creation. Meet the team members:

 

Management

  • CEO

    Tom Coen

  • COO

    Marc Coen

  • Marketing & Administration

    Steffi Verheyden

Our history

Our history

Some of the milestones for Octinion

2021

  • Robotic activities merged with Priva

    Priva and Octinion join forces and merge their horticultural robotics activities. By combining their expertise and technology, they will create a strong and pioneering technology company whose core business is innovation in horticultural robotics in an international market that is experiencing strong growth.See press release: http://www.octinion.com/news/press-release-priva-and-octinion-combine-ro...

  • Nominated Trends Gazellen 2021 Medium sized companies

    Yet again Octinion ranks highly in the Trends Gazellen, this time in the category of the medium sized companies. We're very proud to rank 4th in the province of Vlaams-Brabant!

2020

  • Product launch of Lumion (UV-C treatment)

    Lumion fights powdery mildew on crop like strawberries with UV-C light. The fungus specific DNA absorbs the UV-C light, thus avoiding damage to the crop, which will decrease the pesticide residue. 

  • Trends Gazelle Ambassador 2020 (Vlaams-Brabant)

    Trends awarded Octinion as "Gazelle" in the category "small companies" in Vlaams-Brabant. This prestigious nomination rates fast growing companies based upon 3 growth criteria: revenue - personnel and cashflow. We're very excited with this award! 

2019

  • Awarded sector winner at Deloitte's Fast50

    In Deloitte’s 2019 Technology Fast 50, the list of the fifty fastest-growing technology companies in Belgium, Octinion was awarded as sector winner in the category Hardware. The ranking recognises and ranks the 50 fastest-growing companies in Belgium based on revenue growth over the last four years.

  • Start of our offices in The Netherlands

    Octinion has just launched Octinion The Netherlands with an office at Campus Greenport in Venlo. 

  • Test Center for strawberries installed in Leuven

    Octinion has built its own Testing Facility for its different robotic solutions for strawberry harvesting, with the help of a number of partners. A place where different aspects of strawberry production are being reviewed in the light of robotization.

  • Official product launch of our strawberry picking robot

    We did it: we're the first company in the world presenting a commercial strawberry picking robot! We're presenting our robot, which will be available under the name Rubion, at Fruit Logistica in Berlin. 

2018

  • Growing fast… just signed our 40th innovator!

    When we say we’re growing, we’re serious! In September our innovation team will be counting at least 40 people!

  • Won the “Best Innovation Award” at the UK Digital Pitching Event in Brussels

    We were awarded for "best innovation" at a competition organized by the UK Department for International Trade

  • Called third fastest growing company in Vlaams-Brabant according to Trends

    Read all about the Trends Gazellen on the website of Trends.

  • Octinion Agriculture office opened in Roeselare

    Our second Belgian office has opened its doors

2017

  • Our 25th employee joins the team

    We're officially 25 now! Over the last couple of months, several engineers have joined the team. At least five more will join soon and we're still recruiting! 

  • Official opening of our new building in Leuven

    We festively opened our new building on Thursday 15 June 2017. Next to the 500 m² of renovated offices we already occupied, we expanded our offices with another 700 m² and a brand new workshop of 600 m². The renovation gives space to over 50 employees and prepares Octinion for a solid growth in the coming years.

2016

  • The prototype of our strawberry picking robot is introduced

    During the International Strawberry Fair at Hoogstraten, we present a prototype of our fully autonomous strawberry picking robot and of our autonomous platform, Dribble. 

  • Octinion moves to the Interleuvenlaan in Heverlee

    To support and facilitate our growth, Octinion continues to invest in its own infrastructure. We move to a new location: Interleuvenlaan 46, 3001 Heverlee. We move into newly renovated offices while we build new and bigger office space, labs and a workshop for our own production facilities. 

2015

  • Our 10th employee is on board!

    Welcome to the team, Dries! 

  • INDUCT rebrands to Octinion

    On its 6th birthday, INDUCT changes its name to Octinion. The name Octinion represents how we bring innovation in complexity. Octinion is derived from Octonion, which are a 8-dimensional type of complex numbers. 

2014

  • Start of the development of an autonomous strawberry picking robot

    Next to projects for clients, we have the ambition to build our own products. We start with an ambitious project: building a picking robot for strawberries. 

2011

  • Our offices move from Zaventem to Leuven

    The proximity to the university facilitates recruitment and the collaboration with the university on R&D projects.

2009

  • INDUCT was officially founded

    In April 2009, INDUCT was officially founded by Tom Coen, Jan Anthonis and Wouter Saeys. Tom was initially the only one active in the company, starting up an office in Zaventem. 

    INDUCT stands for innovation. The name is a combination of the first two letters of innovation with 'duct' meaning 'to lead'. Our aim is to lead innovation to build bridges between for example universities and companies.

    Initially, we focus on the agricultural industry, thanks to decades of combined experience of the founders in this sector.  

Our office locations

Our office locations

Leuven (Belgium)

Main office

Interleuvenlaan 46

3001 Heverlee-Leuven

BELGIUM

Roeselare (Belgium)

Huis Van De Voeding

Spanjestraat 141

8800 Roeselare

BELGIUM

Yorkshire (UK)

Westwood House

Annie Med Lane

South Cave

Yorkshire HU15 2HG

UK

Venlo (The Netherlands)

Campus Greenport Venlo 

Villafloraweg 1

5928 RC Venlo 

THE NETHERLANDS