Tipperary Farming App Wins 250k Start Up Competition

In a competition that started a year ago, Tipperary-based Herdwatch, a farming app for beef and dairy farmers, was crowned overall winner of the AIB-sponsored Start-up Academy in a high quality final against 10 other high potential start-ups. The 11 finalists were selected from the initial 300 applicants at a semi-final last November, and attended an 8-week training & mentoring programme leading up to the final.

The mentoring and marketing prize package is worth €250,000 to Herdwatch, which launched its farming app in 2014, after two years of research and development backed by well-known farming organisation FRS Network (Farm Relief Services). It has since developed a customer base of almost 1,000 farmers, which is growing every day, offering potential time-savings of up to four hours a week and easy compliance with Bord Bia and EU animal remedy regulations, among other features, for less than €2 a week (€99 a year inc. VAT).

Back at base in Roscrea, Co.Tipperary, Peter Byrne, CEO (left) and Jane Marks, Marketing Manager (right) of FRS Network congratulate Fabien Peyaud, Herdwatch Co-Founder, on winning the AIB Start Up Academy with a mentoring and marketing prize worth €250k.

Speaking after the event, Herdwatch co-founder Fabien Peyaud said “The competition was very tough, it is an amazing achievement for the team to be crowned top start-up out of 300. We are extremely grateful to AIB and the other partners for this recognition, and will continue to ‘fly the flag’ for Irish Agri Tech.”

The team behind Herdwatch have recently launched version two of the app, which added the ability for farmers to apply for cattle movement certs directly from their smartphone or tablet.

Peter Byrne, FRS Network CEO, said “We are very proud of our FRS IT Manager, Fabien, and his Herdwatch team who have developed  this innovative solution that brings real every day benefits to farmers. It is a perfect complement to FRS’s suite of services to farmers.”

Farmers interested in finding out more can visit www.herdwatch.ie,

Fabien Peyaud from Herdwatch accepting AIB Start Up Academy Award
A delighted Fabien Peyaud accepts the award for Herdwatch after being announced as winner of the AIB Start Up Academy with a mentoring and marketing prize worth €250k.

email info@herdwatch.ie or contact their local FRS (Farm Relief Services) co-op (list on www.frsnetwork.ie).