New Zealand agtech startup, which developed a GPS-enabled photo voltaic collar that “guides” cows round pastures utilizing sound and vibrations, has raised NZ$85 million (A$79.5m) in a Collection C.
The spherical was led by US VC Bessemer Enterprise Companions with current backers Blackbird, Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck Kiwi VC Icehouse Ventures and DCVC.
Mechanical engineer Craig Piggott launched Halter in 2016, aged 22, with the assist of Beck, his former boss at Rocket Lab.
Halter beforehand raised A$29 million (NZ$32m) in Collection B in 2021.
The subscription collar is designed to create fenceless farming, with the flexibility to maintain livestock away from waterways and different delicate environments, alongside having the ability to monitor herds across the clock and let farmers shift their herd remotely . The corporate has registered the time period “cowgorithm”.
The Halter collar gathers 5 information factors a second on each cow, which might provide proactive insights into the well being of each animal, leveraging the information to detect refined adjustments in animal behaviour that may alert farmers when a cow is on warmth, lame or calving earlier than the animal reveals any seen indicators.
The expertise is leased underneath a per-cow subscription mannequin primarily based on farmers’ required options, whereas Halter retains possession and upkeep of the collars.
Bessemer accomplice Tess Hatch is becoming a member of the Halter board. Whereas the corporate nonetheless operates out of Auckland, with a pilot farm in New Zealand’s Waikato area, in the direction of the northwest tip of the North Island, the enterprise is now registered within the US.
The recent capital might be used to enhance the tech behind the cow fitbits.