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The Hungarian agricultural drone company ABZ Innovation has earned the attention of Forbes. We share with you a material that was published on Forbes.hu.

ABZ Innovation designs and manufactures its drones in Hungary, which with their professional equipment become a worthy rival of even the world's largest companies.
One would hardly think that in a drone industry dominated by American, Russian, Iranian, Turkish and Chinese players, a Hungarian company would be able to kick the ball. However, the example of Sentendre-based ABZ Innovation shows that this preconception is wrong.
The young company is already present in nearly 15 countries with its own drones and has even started expanding in Africa, Ludwig Karolyi, the company's managing director, told Forbes.hu.

The ABZ Drone team, which has long been providing comprehensive services in the agricultural drone segment and deals not only with sales, but also with logistics and training, has realized several seasons ago that there is simply no ideal product in this sector.

Ludvigh Károly, ABZ Innovation, Executive Director

They saw that there was a serious market gap here that could be filled with devices with adequate performance, accuracy, controllability, serious support and above-average flexibility.

The feedback was positive and as a result ABZ Drone's subsidiary company, ABZ Innovation, was born in 2021 in cooperation with István Széchenyi University in Győr and the investor group MIB Invest Group (the company is backed by István Szekeres, a successful entrepreneur who left Agrofeed in 2019).
The company was created specifically for the development and production of drones based on its own ideas.

Products: agriculture in focus
ABZ Innovation mainly focuses on agricultural drones intended for professional users, including so-called sprayer drones. These models are programmed, very accurate, have different sensors and extremely large carrying capacity, which they obviously need, since they have to carry plant protection products or granules.

Currently, the range consists of eight models that differ from each other to a greater or lesser extent. In addition to equipment for agricultural use, there are also those that are suitable for carrying out logistical tasks.
The company is also ready to fulfill individual orders.
For example, they have already made a drone that carries a large and heavy, maximally balanced camera with extremely good image quality. One of ABZ Innovation's birds has accomplished the task of flying a large air pollution measuring instrument.

Development and production in Hungary
The products are developed in Hungary. ABZ Innovation's engineering team is clearly collaborating with István Széchenyi University. The academic staff and students of the institution are also actively involved in the work and provide immense help in solving various problems as well as during testing. This is very beneficial for them as well, as they gain experience in a field that is booming, backed by huge capital and capable of offering a competitive market perspective. According to analyst firm Markets&Markets, the market for agricultural drones could grow by a third from its current level by 2028, reaching a level of $17.9 billion. The engines of growth are Europe and North America, but in the coming years the Asian market can also grow tremendously.

ABZ not only develops, but also maintains the assembly of the drones in house, everything happens at the company's factory in Sentendre.

Does it stand a chance against the mighty rivals?
One can rightly wonder what a chance a Hungarian company has against the large competitors, backed by a serious state resource, with impressive financial capabilities for development and production, and selling their products worldwide. They are huge, while ABZ Innovation is small compared to them. But this can be an advantage.

A much less hierarchical and bureaucratic, smaller company that specializes in one or two product groups can react much, much faster and more flexibly to market fluctuations and changes in consumer habits.

This is one of the reasons why the company was able to quickly achieve success in Europe. Agriculture on the old continent is different from that of the Far East or North America. The crops are different, farms operate differently, and as a result, consumer needs are not the same either. Chinese companies, for example, do not pay much attention to this in development, nor do they have the opportunity to do so.

In addition, ABZ Innovation continues the traditions of ABZ Drone and pays a lot of attention to maintenance. This includes lightning-fast service and provision of spare devices, as well as customer training. These additional services are vital to operational efficiency.

"In agriculture, you can't wait weeks for a repair, you don't have time to learn to fly a drone for months."

Speed and efficiency go hand in hand in this segment and the Hungarian company tries to provide all the help to achieve them to the maximum extent. 

How long does it take to learn to fly a drone?
You can learn to fly ABZ Innovation drones in approximately two weeks and anyone can become a pro in one month. By the way, the company will give you all the help you need.

In addition, the company's employees are always available to help customers. This is also a kind of support that it is not certain that someone in Hungary will receive from the leading brands at the moment, for them this market is simply too small.

A military drone? A hobby drone?
The conflict in Ukraine has proven that drones for military use play a more important role than ever before. This will be even more true in the future. It would make sense for a drone company to head in that direction.

"The company's philosophy is that we do not make products that have the purpose to vandalize or destroy."

As Ludvigh Károly said, they focus on developments that can help the work of the National Defense and even save lives. For example, it is possible to measure radiation levels, deliver aid to different destinations, and meet other unique needs. The company also has no plans to branch out into hobby drones. By the way, this is completely understandable, this segment is very different, with completely different consumer needs and capabilities.

Foreign expansion
ABZ Innovation has been thinking about foreign expansion from the first minute. The fact that the parent company, ABZ Drone, has already established excellent business relationships in many countries over the years has provided a huge help in this.

The company is present in about 15 countries through its own representative offices and distribution partners, and this is just the beginning.

In addition to Europe, Hungarian drones have also appeared in the skies of the African continent, thanks to the fact that the Kenyan office has also opened its doors.

Furthermore, Ludvigh Károlys set his sights on entering the United States as well. If anything, conquering North America is a real challenge, but this market is one of the drivers of agricultural drones. A big challenge can also lead to a big business.