A cold shower may the hottest new way to start the day, but it has as much appeal for aged care residents as an empty tank has for farmers.
Bizarrely, that connection is turning into a real money spinner for an Australian tech startup.
Gasbot is a Brisbane-based startup taking on the world thanks to tech developed to help eliminate the cold shower.
The company started out with a product to measure the remaining gas in LPG cylinders to assist residents in a retirement community who had been complaining to management when their cylinders ran out..
It turns out running out of gas is not unique to Australia, and is in-fact a 2 billion-cylinder problem.
Agbot allows producers to monitor water tanks, troughs, liquid fertiliser containers and more
Through the development of LPG solutions, the company realised that providing accurate, remote measurement of storage containers for a broad range of industries presented a far bigger opportunity than LPG alone..
In 2022 Gasbot started scoping out on-farm use cases and joined an evokeAG. incubator program that gave them a unique perspective of farmers’ wants and needs.
They converted their satellite and cellular monitoring technology to work for water tanks, troughs, liquid fertiliser containers and diesel tanks under the ‘Agbot’ brand. The durable waterproof Agbot unit provides monitoring of on-farm liquids at a fraction of the price of current market offerings.
Early wins included signing on Elders and CSBP Fertilisers, but the biggest breakthrough came at evokeAG. 2023 in South Australia when global managers for Gallagher were introduced to the product.
They were so impressed with the AgBot that it now sells under the Gallagher brand in 500 stores worldwide including North America, Chile and South Africa.
“evokeAG. added an exclamation point to our speed of growth,” said founder and managing director Philip Livingston.
“From our initial conversation there, we are on track for a fivefold increase in sales for Agbot.”
Another agtech riding the wave of interest in agtech is Wagga Wagga-based Zetifi.
The connectivity company designs and manufactures roving Wi-Fi hotspots and smart antennas to overcome the challenges of poor network connection.
evokeAG. in Melbourne was a launchpad for their success.
Founded by network engineering teacher Dan Winson in 2017, Zetifi had successfully graduated from a couple of tech incubators when they were asked to present at evokeAG. 2019.
Their solution for connectivity caught the eye of AuctionsPlus, who signed the company up to provide their roaming Wi-Fi hotspots for online auctions.
The units quickly became a talking point at livestock sales, with the portable antennas catching the eye of farmers keen for a networking solution of their own.
CaseIH was another early customer who was impressed with the technology, and, like AuctionsPlus, offered a very visible example of the value of the technology.
That early work has helped refine the product, and led to a $12 million capital raise last year, with Telstra and GrainCorp as lead investors.
The company has doubled the size of its team and brought in new manufacturing and tooling capabilities. That will culminate in the launch next year of its new ZetiRover, with more streamlined, powerful antennas able to connect to multiple mobile and Wi-Fi networks.
Now the company is chasing scale in terms of output and will be back to evokeAG. in Perth in February.
The expectation is that key new clients will emerge, just like those early initial meetings that put them on their current path.
“In ag so much is word of mouth and recommendation,” explained Mr Winson. “By meeting those key customers at evoke, we found ourselves connected to so many more potential buyers. We think customers at evokeAG. 2024 will be impressed by what they see.”
Agbot will also be at evokeAG. 2024 in Perth, with Mr Livingston looking forward to unveiling a new generation of their productline, enabling the accomplishment of new use cases on-farm.
He’s hoping it will receive a similarly encouraging reception when it debuts in the event’s newly developed ‘Scaleup station.’
“evokeAG. is the vanguard when it comes to the intersection of agriculture and technology in Australia,” he said. “if you are presenting something new, attendance is non-negotiable.”
For more information about evokeAG. 2024, and to purchase tickets, visit: evokeag.com/2024. AgriFutures Australia recommends delegates to secure their tickets, flights, and accommodation early to avoid disappointment.
