The Herdwatch team at the 2022 National Ploughing Championships. Image: Herdwatch
The Irish start-up now plans to launch its latest livestock management app in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
Farm management software company Herdwatch has secured a multimillion-euro investment to support its growth plans.
The investment was backed by Renatus Capital Partners. Herdwatch’s founding members, CEO Fabien Peyaud and the FRS (Farm Relief Services) Network, will remain significant shareholders.
Based in Tipperary, Herdwatch’s platform aims to digitise and streamline livestock farming, helping farmers in Ireland and the UK save time, eliminate paperwork and make better farming decisions.
The start-up was founded in 2014 and its tech is now used on more than 18,000 farms in the UK and Ireland to monitor herds and crops. Users pay an annual subscription based on their type of farm and its size.
The Herdwatch app saves farmers an average of three hours a week on paperwork, according to a recent member survey that received more than 1,600 responses.
In 2021, the Tipperary start-up announced plans to double its workforce over a three-year period. Herdwatch currently employs 60 staff and plans to grow its headcount to 80 over the next two years to support its international growth and farm digitalisation efforts.
“We are extremely proud of our achievements to date, but there is so much more we can do to help farmers across the world,” Herdwatch co-founder and CEO Peyaud said. “We have the ambition, fantastic people on the team, and now the balance sheet to match.
“This is the start of an exciting new chapter in the Herdwatch story.”
The agritech plans to expand its services over the next few years, aiming to develop new technologies to help farmers cope with the climate crisis, in particular.
In March, Herdwatch launched Flockwatch, a platform that helps sheep farmers track ewe and flock performance, while streamlining compliance reporting. The start-up plans to launch this app in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia in the near future.
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