Agtech - So What?

In less than a year, NZ-based virtual fencing company Halter raised $165 million and then $220 million more, reaching a $2 billion valuation at a time when global agtech funding is down more than 70% from its peak. By any measure, that's a remarkable achievement.

But what does it actually mean?

In this episode, Halter founder and CEO Craig Piggott speaks with our producer and dairy owner Kirsten Diprose about building the company from the ground up, from training cows on his parents' farm in the Waikato to shipping a million solar-powered collars across three countries.

Craig and Kirsten discuss:

What virtual fencing is and why pasture-based farmers are adopting it

The technical and behavioural challenges of building reliable hardware for animals

Halter’s evolution from a tech-first experiment into a farmer-first platform

What scaling from New Zealand into Australia and the US actually looks like

The conversation was recorded at the Australian Dairy Conference just before Halter’s Series E announcement. Host Sarah Nolet shares her own perspectives at the end, including the questions she wished she'd been able to ask Craig directly.

Useful Links:

Halter raises $220M in Series E less than a year after raising $165M Series D

Kiwi AI farming start-up worth $2.9b as Peter Thiel invests

Halter says it’s not an agtech company on the heels of $220m Series E

The Innovation Sweet Spot: Aligning Corporates, Startups and Investors, with Brad Fruth and Frank Wooten

For more information and resources, visit our website. 

The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

Seven years ago, agtech in Australia was still in its infancy. There were bold predictions, a flurry of startups, and an emerging ecosystem of programs and investors to back them. So how have things panned out?

In this live stage recording at the 2026 AgriFutures evokeAG event in Melbourne, Sarah Nolet is joined by Sam Duncan, founder of GXLab (formerly FarmLab and Ziltek) and Natalie Engel, a QLD-based cattle producer. Together, they reflect on the last seven years of the Aussie agtech ecosystem: the hype cycles, the pivots, and the very human realities behind building technology in agriculture.

Back in 2019 at the first evokeAG event, both Sam and Natalie pitched two very different ideas. Sam was an outsider to agriculture with a vision to use soil data and soil carbon to tackle climate change. While as a farmer, Natalie was reverse-pitching a problem: the frustrating reality of livestock traceability paperwork and the need for better digital tools.

Seven years later, neither could have predicted where their agtech journeys would end up.

Sarah, Sam, and Natalie discuss:

What the agtech ecosystem looked like in 2019 and how expectations around soil carbon, digitization, and traceability have evolved.

Why building agtech startups often requires navigating both the realities of farming and the pressures of venture-backed growth.

The emotional toll of entrepreneurship in agriculture.

Why the next decade of agtech may be driven less by hype and more by resilience, cost pressures, and geopolitical shifts affecting agriculture.

Useful Links:

Agriculture’s technology future: How connectivity can yield new growth | McKinsey

FarmLab’s journey to GXLab: From Startup Alley to global soil solutions - evokeAG.

Seven Years On, evokeAG. Returns to Melbourne to Chart Agtech’s Next Frontier

Beyond the funding winter: Australia's agtech opportunity - evokeAG.

Meet Natalie Engel - Cattle farmer and agtech enthusiast | Mobble

Companies mentioned: Ceres Tag, Halter, Agovor, AgriProve, Mobble, OptiWeigh, AgFrontier 

For more information and resources, visit our website. 

The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

While agrifood innovation often celebrates bold founders and breakthrough technologies, what happens when the incentives of corporates, startups and investors don’t quite align?

In this live recording from evokeAG in Melbourne, Sarah Nolet is joined by Brad Fruth, Director of Innovation at Beck's Hybrids, and Frank Wooten, CEO of ArkeaBio and co-founder of Vence (acquired by Merck Animal Health).

Together, they explore the “sweet spot” of agtech innovation, i.e. the balance between what customers and corporations want, while recognizing the constraints that innovators and investors face.

Brad shares how Beck’s Hybrids, the largest family-owned retail seed company in the US, approaches innovation: rather than having a corporate venture arm, they focus on being internal problem-solvers and trusted matchmakers between startups.

Meanwhile, Frank Wooten speaks candidly about the realities of raising venture capital in agriculture; where billion-dollar exits are rare, timelines are long, and alignment with customers matters more than valuation headlines.

Sarah, Brad, and Frank discuss:

Why “free pilots” can devalue agtech products before they’ve proven themselves.

How corporations can support innovation without becoming distracted by it.

The risks founders face when fundraising incentives distort execution priorities.

The surprising advantages of Australian agriculture, from customer density to experimentation culture.

Useful Links:

Expanding the tools in the innovation toolkit: how agri-food corporates can engage with startups

Building a Ladder to Commercial Success for Deep Tech Founders

Disrupting the AgTech Ecosystem with Ron Adner

4 Tips for How Agri Corporates Can Innovate By Working With Startups

For more information and resources, visit our website. 

The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

While farmer distrust of AI remains a key adoption barrier, will farm businesses that are being set up for an AI future have a competitive advantage?
Paul Windemuller is a pioneering first-generation farmer and Nuffield Scholar from Coopersville, Michigan (USA). Along with his wife Brittany, 
Paul built his farm from the ground up with limited capital, relying on ingenuity, automation, and data-driven decision-making to grow Dream Winds Dairy into a highly tech-enabled operation.
In this episode, Paul shares his unconventional journey into dairy farming from digging parlor pits by hand and retrofitting sheds on a shoestring budget, to becoming an early adopter of robotics, wearable sensors, and AI-enabled tools. Paul didn’t grow up on a farm, so technology became a way to compensate for what he calls a lack of “cow sense,” helping him make faster decisions around health, breeding, and herd performance.
As AI accelerates, Paul argues that adoption is less about buying another gadget and more about building the underlying foundations: connectivity, clean data, and a culture of curiosity within farming teams.
Sarah and Paul discuss:
How a lack of traditional farming experience became a catalyst for data-driven innovation.
Why AI should be viewed as a utility, like electricity, rather than a single technology purchase.
The practical steps farmers can take today to become “AI ready.” 
Why governance models that keep value with farmers and rural communities could determine whether AI delivers long-term benefits.
Why farmer-owned data infrastructure and interoperability may be the next big innovation in agriculture.
Useful Links:
Leading the Herd: AI, Insight, and the Next Agricultural Revolution, (Paul’s Nuffield report)
Getting Into the weeds: the AI data dilemma
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work in Agriculture
Yield maps killed agtech software, can AI fix it? (report)
For more information and resources, visit our website. 
The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

While there is a growing recognition of the importance of indigenous knowledge in agriculture, all too-often, First Nations people are being asked to fit in with an established model. What if we flipped the script to create food systems that are led by indigenous principles?
That’s what Jacob Birch is aiming to do in reawakening a native grains industry in Australia. He’s a proud Gamilaraay man, scholar, Churchill Fellow, and entrepreneur who founded Yaamarra & Yarral, a wholesaler of ancient grains and retailer of stone milled flour.
In this episode, Jacob shares his journey into native grains, beginning with biodiversity and landscape restoration, and expanding into food, culture, and economic sovereignty. He explains why native grasses are keystone species for Australia’s ecosystems, how Indigenous Australians managed grain systems for tens of thousands of years, and why these histories, including bread-making, are still largely absent from mainstream narratives.
In his Churchill Fellowship, Jacob draws on lessons from First Nations communities in North America, exploring what Indigenous-led food systems can look like when the goal is not export-driven scale, but healthy communities, country, and self-determined economic development.
Sarah and Jacob discuss:
The nutritional value of native grains and their role in climate resilience and food sovereignty.
Why post–farm gate ownership is crucial for First Nations people.
How subsidies could potentially support indigenous-led enterprises in food and agriculture.
The realities of building a native grains industry; from land access to challenges in processing.
Useful Links:
Jacob Birch, Churchill Fellowship report
Grasslands Documentary 
Jacob Birch researcher profile
Modernising Indigenous Native Grains Processing | AgriFutures Australia
White Earth Nation
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Native Farm Bill Coalition
Tribal Elder Food Box - Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin
First Nations Australians in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry - DAFF
2030 Roadmap - National Farmers' Federation
For more information and resources, visit our website. 
The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.