Milkalyser has developed innovative technology to predict the fertility of cows.

SETsquared Exeter company secures significant funding for cow fertility tracker

SETsquared Exeter company, Milkalyser Limited, has recently secured £500,000 of seed funding from early stage technology investor, Mercia Fund Management, for an innovative technology that predicts the fertility of cows.

Milkalyser were first introduced to SETsquared via Joe Pearce and the SETsquared Exeter team. The SETsquared experience awarded Managing Director, Professor Toby Mottram and his team with pitch training via investor readiness programmes in preparation for the SETsquared Investment Showcase, alongside a network of strong contacts as they prepared to launch their business.

Professor Mottram explained: “SETsquared is now so well regarded, there’s practically a queue to join up. The opportunities provided by the partnership are invaluable. We were able to have our business concept validated by the right people and given the opportunity to explore potential funding with a large and wide-ranging group of investors via the Investment Showcase. It is with thanks to the SETsquared partnership that we have discovered and built a strong rapport with our investors.  We are delighted to have Mercia as an early stage investor which will allow us to build the Milkalyser business and technology which we know has huge global potential.”

Dr Ashish Patel, Investment Manager at Mercia Fund Management, said: “We believe this is an excellent opportunity to diversify our interests at Mercia and invest in a potentially industrial-scale solution to a significant commercial problem in livestock agriculture.

He continued: “We are pleased to be working with Toby, who is globally recognised as an innovator in farming technology and possesses a combination of deep technical expertise in animal technologies with a commercial outlook.”

Joe Pearce, Business Support, SETsquared Exeter said: "It's wonderful to hear of Milkalyser's investment success with Mercia. I am pleased that the company was able to utilise the opportunities available to members of the SETsquared partnership. They have developed a remarkable technology and I have no doubt that the company will be a great success." 

In  response  to  the  decline  of  fertility  in  dairy  cows  worldwide,  Milkalyser  Limited  has  developed  an automated  fertility  management  system  for  dairy  farmers.  The  innovative  new  technology  directly measures  the  fertility  hormone,  progesterone,  in  cow’s  milk  and  provides  analytical  data  to  predict ovulation and optimal timing for insemination.

This early-stage investment from Mercia will be used to continue developing the product so it can be brought to the commercial market. The long-term vision for the company is to build a data driven platform that allows farmers worldwide to maximise the yields from their livestock.

Professor Mottram  FREng, the inventor of the Milkalyser platform, completed an Enterprise Fellowship funded by BBSRC with the Royal Society of Edinburgh to build the business model and proof of concept and has been involved in commercialising animal technologies for over 15 years.

Professor Mottram has a PHD in robotic milking and is also the founder eCow Devon LTD, a company which provides rumen pH telemetry systems to farmers and scientists worldwide.

Date: 17 May 2017