Irish agritech start-up StrongBó raises €750,000 in seed funding

Irish agritech start-up StrongBó has raised €750,000 in seed funding to help it commercialise its automatic weighing device for animals.

The round was led by New Zealand-based animal management solutions company Gallagher, with participation from Enterprise Ireland through its High Potential Start-up programme, the 519 Growth Fund and the Grand River Agricultural Society.

The hardware automatically collects animal weights which are then analysed and provide farmers with a business intelligence platform and decision support tool, with the data used to make decisions about their livestock on a daily basis and plan for the future.

“We are delighted to secure this funding round with such a significant mix of globally recognised industry players and seasoned investors like Enterprise Ireland,” said Micheál McInerney, co-founder and chief executive of StrongBó.

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“Our latest innovation allows farmers to gain new insights into how their animals are actually progressing. StrongBó provides average daily gains so farmers can see how much the animals are growing, and how much weight they’re putting on. You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”

The hardware was designed in Ireland and is designed to address concerns that the digital revolution had missed the beef production sector.

“Being able to regularly weigh livestock while in the paddock can mean real savings in labour output and potentially down the track it may enable them to track the more feed-efficient animals and lower greenhouse gas emitters,” said Sarah Adams, general manager of strategy and new ventures for Gallagher Animal Management.

Based at NovaUCD in Dublin, StrongBó has begun expanding internationally, initially focusing on the Canadian market. It now has a subsidiary in Ontario. It also recently secured funding from the European Space Agency.