SomaDetect Raises $6-Million To Help Commercialize Innovative Dairy Health Technology
FREDERICTON — New Brunswick-based dairy technology company SomaDetect has closed a significant round of Series A funding — its largest to date.
The $6-million (U.S.) venture capital financing will be used to accelerate the commercialization of SomaDetect’s in-line sensor for milk quality, reproductive status and herd health.
The financing is led by Ag Capital Canada (ACC), a private equity fund based in Tillsonburg, Ontario. Additional new investment is being provided by Merck Animal Health Ventures, Builders VC and Wilbur Ellis’ Cavallo Ventures.
“It’s huge for the company. We’re thrilled because this funding is going to help us get to the next level,” said Jimy Beltran, operations analyst for SomaDetect in an interview with Huddle.
“I think SomaDetect has had such a tremendous journey over the past three years and we are so grateful for farmers, governments and the community that has helped us get to this point in raising this money that will actually propel us to be commercial across North America.”
Founded in Fredericton in 2016 by Bethany Deshpande and Nicholas Clermont, SomaDetect’s in-line sensor that measures critical indicators of dairy quality from every cow at every milking. SomaDetect’s technology uses no consumables, chemicals, or cartridges and no milk is lost.
This new investment will help SomaDetect bring its technology to more farmers in Canada and the U.S. Right now, the company is working to recruit more farms as early adopters in both countries.
“Right now we have approximately 7,000 cows being monitored by our censors and in the next few months, the goal is to use this funding to group and partner with new farms so we can test our new commercial model and be able to provide the data to those farmers, mostly large farms across Canada and the U.S.,” said Beltran.
In addition to this most recent round, Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) also granted $4-million (CAD) to SomaDetect in January 2020, which has supported earlier stages of development for the company’s technology and will provide ongoing support to set up installations in Canada and the U.S. and demonstrate greenhouse gas benefits within dairy operations.
Ag Capital Canada and Merck’s Animal Health Ventures are joining earlier investors who have supported the company, including Dairy Farmers of America.
“Having had experience managing reproduction in livestock, I can see major benefits in this technology and its pregnancy algorithms,” said John Lansink, Ag Capital Canada managing general partner, in a statement. “The services SomaDetect has to offer will be game-changers.”