Onside Secures New Zealand Government Funding for Biosecurity Management App
Christchurch, 1 June 2022 – New Zealand Agritech company, Onside, has secured a $4 million co-investment from the New Zealand government to expand and accelerate the development of its biosecurity technology.
Onside’s biosecurity software, Onside Intelligence (OSI), uses data from a range of sources and intelligent algorithms to build a complex rural network capable of mapping potential disease pathways and predicting where incursions are. likely to occur.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor today announced the four-year partnership through the Ministry of Primary Industries Fund for the Sustainable Future of Food and Fiber in a media statement.
Onside also recently partnered with Kiwifruit Vine Health (KVH) to implement technology that will power their Plant Pathway Plan, a program designed to protect the $4 billion kiwifruit sector from future incursions.
KVH CEO Leanne Stewart said, “This is an important project and we are delighted to be working with Onside. The solution and the tool that the project will offer will bring great added value to producers and will improve daily biosecurity best practices in a simple and innovative way. »
Ryan Higgs, Co-Founder and CEO of Onside, said, “It’s great to have the support of MPI to carry out our mission to revolutionize biosecurity and it’s exciting to work with KVH to bring the technology to life. practice. »
Onside is headquartered in Christchurch, but operates in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, and its data science leadership is based in New York. “Understanding the risk of a biosecurity incursion is a complex issue in large networks, so we sought out the best scientists in the world to work with us,” Higgs said.
In addition to its biosecurity technology, Onside provides a comprehensive digital toolkit for farms, orchards, vineyards and contractors to streamline operations and ease the burden of compliance. Onside is currently used on over 14,000 properties in New Zealand, Australia and the UK.
Onside received the Bio-protection Research Center Science Award at the 2020 Biosecurity Awards and is a finalist for Start-up of the Year at the 2022 High Tech Awards.
© Scoop Media