By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media
Agtech company Halter, which has dual headquarters of Auckland, New Zealand and Boulder, Colorado, has received a massive capital injection, cementing its status as a unicorn startup. The firm, behind a tech solution for beef ranches and dairy farms, has raised $100 million in a Series D round. This latest funding round was spearheaded by technology investment firm BOND, whose founders have famously backed companies like Facebook and Waze. The round also featured new investor NewView, alongside continued support from existing backers Bessemer Venture Partners, DCVC, Blackbird, Icehouse Ventures and Promus Ventures.
Founded in 2016, Halter has now raised a total of $246 million across four rounds since its inception, making it the latest addition to the startup community’s coveted unicorn status. Halter Founder and CEO Craig Piggott stated, “Halter was built with our early ranchers and farmers – we wouldn’t be here without them. We’re deeply grateful for their trust. This capital will help unlock productivity gains for even more ranchers.”
Halter plans to funnel its latest funding towards a significant U.S. expansion, directly bolstering cattle ranch production with its technology solution. This firm’s overarching mission is to construct a digital operating system for farms and ranches across the globe. Its system empowers ranchers to monitor their herds with greater efficiency, including a mobile app sharing animal and pasture data alongside a solar-powered smart collar for cattle.
Through this cutting-edge system, producers can virtually fence, move and continuously monitor their cattle around the clock, automating tasks that traditionally consume hours of manual labor. This enhanced efficiency is key to addressing persistent labor shortages in the agricultural sector, allowing smaller teams to manage larger herds more effectively.
Halter currently serves approximately 150 ranchers across 18 U.S. states, supported by an expanding domestic team. This latest influx of capital is set to extend its reach dramatically, empowering thousands more ranchers to boost their productivity. Beyond the bottom line, the technology aims to significantly improve the daily experience of ranching, making it less physically demanding and more rewarding. This greater efficiency and improved quality of life for ranchers are expected, in turn, to fuel broader economic growth within rural communities.
Piggott emphasized that the latest fundraising milestone is a testament to the importance of ranching in society, saying: “Ranchers are the backbone of rural communities. They feed society and play a key role in building sustainable food systems. Halter ranchers are pioneering a more productive and sustainable way to ranch. We’re delighted to partner with BOND and to welcome NewView, and we’re grateful for continued support from our investors who backed us early – we’re all aligned on our mission to support ranchers.”
BOND General Partner Daegwon Chae commented, “Cattle-based products generate over $1 trillion annually. Ranches feed billions of people but are constrained by traditional bottlenecks of the offline economy – labor, time and limited automation.” He added that Halter’s system directly tackles these very challenges, enabling ranchers to scale operations and improve profitability in a way previously unimaginable.
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