UK-based Silent Herdsman has secured £3 million in new funding, TechCrunch reported.
An investor syndicate composed of Albion Ventures and the Scottish Investment Bank which was spearheaded by Scottish Equity Partners gave the new funding. The startup first received a £4.75 million financing from a regional development funding backed by the Scottish Enterprise from 2006 to 2009 when it was still in its research and development phase and went by the name Embedded Technology Solutions. Launched in 2010, the startup was originally spun out of the University of Strathclyde, the report said.
Silent Herdsman makes wearable collar for cattle which notifies beef and dairy farmers of the condition exhibited by the animals on their herd. Through proprietary predictive analytics software, the collar identifies conditions like when cows are in heat. This is then sent to a wireless base station on the farm which then relays the information to the farmer's smartphone or mobile or desktop device, the report said.
Proceeds from the round will help Silent Herdsman add more worldwide customers and grow the range of services in the animal health and welfare services sector that its wearable technology provides, the report said.
Scottish Equity Partners Partner Stuart Paterson said in the statement, "There are currently over 1 billion beef and dairy cows world-wide and over 34 million dairy cows in the E.U. and U.S. alone. This number is continuing to grow as countries get wealthier and demand for dairy products increases. As a result, this represents a market opportunity of over $1 billion per annum to Silent Herdsman."
He added that their solution also addresses the worldwide food production because they help improve efficiency. Moreover, the sales of the platform is fast-gaining traction in the UK and worldwide and it is because of this that "SEP is delighted to support the company's growth plans," the report said.
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