Orbem lands major Series B to expand AI MRI beyond poultry
Munich-based deep tech startup Orbem has raised €55.5 million in a Series B funding round to scale its proprietary AI-powered MRI technology from industrial use in poultry farming to new applications in fruit, vegetables and healthcare. The fresh capital marks a significant step in bringing high-speed, non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging into large-scale, real-world operations that demand both efficiency and sustainability.
From egg scanning to a new era of industrial imaging
Orbem has built a reputation in agrifood technology by deploying high-throughput AI algorithms combined with custom MRI hardware to scan eggs at industrial speed. Its systems can analyse the interior of each egg in milliseconds, enabling hatcheries to identify fertility, health and sex without breaking the shell or harming the embryo. This capability reduces waste, improves animal welfare and optimises production planning for large poultry producers.
By industrialising what was once a slow and expensive medical imaging method, Orbem has demonstrated that advanced imaging can operate at the scale and speed required by global supply chains. The company now aims to replicate this success across other sectors where quality, safety and sustainability are under pressure.
Series B funding to push AI MRI into food and healthcare
The €55.5 million Series B round will enable Orbem to accelerate product development and commercial deployment across new verticals. Building on its poultry platform, the startup is adapting its AI MRI systems to analyse fruit and vegetables, promising a step change in how the food industry assesses quality and reduces waste.
Instead of relying solely on manual inspection or destructive sampling, producers will be able to use non-invasive imaging to evaluate internal structure, ripeness, defects and shelf-life potential. This could support more accurate sorting, better pricing models and reduced losses along the supply chain, from farm to retailer.
Beyond food, the funding will also support early-stage work in healthcare imaging. By leveraging its experience in building compact, efficient MRI systems and training machine learning models on massive imaging datasets, Orbem is exploring ways to make MRI diagnostics faster, more accessible and more affordable. Potential use cases range from screening and triage to specialised imaging in settings where conventional MRI is too costly or slow.
AI-powered MRI as a sustainability and efficiency tool
At the core of Orbem‘s strategy is the idea that industrial imaging can become a foundational technology for a more sustainable economy. By providing detailed, real-time insight into the interior of biological products without damaging them, AI MRI helps companies move from reactive quality control to predictive and preventive management.
In poultry, this means fewer wasted eggs, reduced energy use in incubation and improved animal welfare. In fresh produce, it can drive more precise logistics, aligning harvest, storage and distribution with the true condition of each batch. In healthcare, faster and more scalable diagnostic imaging can relieve pressure on hospitals and improve patient outcomes by enabling earlier interventions.
This combination of automation, data-driven decision-making and resource efficiency positions Orbem squarely at the intersection of AI, biotech and sustainability, areas that are attracting intense interest from both investors and industry partners.
Technology backbone: merging AI with custom MRI hardware
The company’s platform relies on a tight integration of custom MRI scanners and proprietary AI algorithms trained on vast volumes of imaging data. Traditional MRI systems are optimised for human healthcare and are neither cost-effective nor fast enough for industrial environments. Orbem has re-engineered the stack, designing hardware that can withstand continuous operation in factories and hatcheries while delivering images at a speed compatible with conveyor-based processes.
On the software side, deep learning models are used not only to reconstruct images but also to interpret them in real time. Instead of generating scans that require expert radiologists, the system outputs direct classifications and measurements relevant to each industry, such as fertility, defects or quality grades. This end-to-end automation reduces labour costs and integrates smoothly with existing industrial automation systems.
Positioning within Europe’s deep tech and AI landscape
Based in Munich, Orbem is part of a growing wave of European deep tech startups that apply advanced AI and hardware innovation to tangible problems in food, agriculture and healthcare. The scale of the €55.5 million Series B round reflects a broader investor shift towards technologies that combine strong intellectual property with clear sustainability and productivity impacts.
As governments and regulators across Europe push for reduced waste, improved animal welfare and more resilient food systems, industrial imaging platforms like those developed by Orbem are likely to play an increasingly central role. At the same time, the company’s expansion into healthcare aligns with long-term trends toward more distributed and efficient medical diagnostics.
Next steps: from niche success to multi-sector platform
With new funding secured, Orbem is expected to scale its operations, expand its team of engineers and scientists, and deepen collaborations with major players in agrifood and healthcare. Demonstrating that its AI MRI technology can deliver reliable, high-throughput results in fruit, vegetables and clinical environments will be critical to its next phase of growth.
If successful, the company could help establish industrial MRI as a standard tool for quality and safety across multiple sectors, turning what was once a hospital-only technology into a ubiquitous component of modern, sustainable supply chains.