AgriWebb, the start-up that has built a worldwide livestock management platform, is now valued at over £55 million following a £17m investment round.
The platform launched in the UK last year and is now used by farmers, who use it to digitise record keeping with an aim to increase productivity and traceability.
AgriWebb, an Australia-based firm, is backed by high profile UK investors including the Duke of Westminster’s agri-tech investment fund, the Wheatsheaf Group, and private investors such as Jim Dobson, co-founder of Dunbia.
The new round of investment was led by corporate multinational and NYSE-listed telecommunications leader TELUS, which recently launched TELUS Agriculture, a division to address food security by leveraging its technology expertise.
It has also recently invested and acquired major players in the UK agricultural sector including remote sensing start-up Hummingbird Technologies, and Muddy Boots, a specialist in farm-to-food traceability and supply chain management.
The capital from this round will help AgriWebb – which has UK offices in London and Belfast – to amplify efforts on existing products and accelerate growth in the UK and the Americas.
AgriWebb also intends to invest in product features, including an individual animal management platform, alongside tools to manage the carbon footprint of livestock production.
The platform, ground-tested by 100 early adopter British beef and sheep farmers prior to UK launch, has been developed to meet the requirements of the UK industry.
For example, AgriWebb integrates with all government databases across Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Data entered into the app automatically syncs with the user’s government account, removing the need to regularly log in, and simplifying potentially stressful audits.
Jim Dobson said: “I was exposed to AgriWebb as a corporate client at Dunbia where they are helping supply chain predictability in the integrated beef scheme.
"I then became a customer on my home farming operation where we can gain greater clarity on the efficiency of our own cattle.
“Measuring our carbon footprint is something every UK farmer will be required to do in the near future and AgriWebb will be the tool that will make this easy for both the farmer and the regulator.
"From those viewpoints it was natural to see the global potential for this technology to innovate the industry. I work regularly with the strong leadership team to access and progress key initiatives in the UK and Irish market.”
Following its inception six years ago by co-founders Justin Webb, Kevin Baum and John Fargher, AgriWebb now manages over 14 million head of livestock across 100 million acres around the globe, including Australia and the UK.
Mr Webb said: “The validation of high profile UK agricultural investors, and multinational and government-backed institutional partners who are aligned with our vision is tremendously exciting for AgriWebb.
"We now look forward to executing on-going product development and expanding our existing operations in both Europe and the Americas.”
