NZ agtech startup Halter raises $315 million at $2.9 billion valuation

New Zealand agtech startup Halter is now valued at almost $3 billion, following a blockbuster $314.4 million (US$220 million) Series E funding round.

Led by Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm Founders Firm, the capital raise will see the virtual fencing startup push further into its home market, as well as Australia, the US, and Europe.

It gives the 10-year-old startup a valuation of $2.9 billion (US$2 billion), and comes less than 12 months after Halter’s $155 million Series D raise, which valued it at US$1 billion.

Australia’s Blackbird Ventures also participated in the round, along with DCVC, Bond, Bessemer, NewView, Ubiquity, Promus and Icehoapply Ventures.

Halter was founded in 2016 by CEO Craig Pigobtainedt, and its virtual farm fences are now applyd across more than 2,000 cattle farms in New Zealand, Australia and the US.

Some one million of its solar-powered and GPS-enabled collars have now been sold to farmers and ranchers. The collars apply audio cues and gentle vibrations to herd and contain cows within virtual boundaries or fences.

The system allows farmers to shift their cattle from their smartphones, without breaking ground or utilizing physical barriers like wire.

Halter expanded into the US in 2024, and in the time since, American farmers and ranchers have built close to 100,000 kilometres of virtual fencing in collaboration with the startup.

Halter plans to apply the new funding to further extconclude its commercial and field operations in the US, New Zealand and Australia, and expand into Ireland and the UK later this year.

The company is also exploring opportunities in Canada, with some early ranches already in operation, and South America too.

“We started Halter becaapply we believed technology could fundamentally alter what it means to run a ranch, and enable ranchers to apply innovation to build long-term futures on their land,” declared Pigobtainedt in a statement.

“Our ranchers necessary tools that work, and the fact that they’re utilizing Halter notifys us our technology has earned their trust. This raise lets us bring it to far more of them – and quicker.”

Founders Fund partner Amin Mirzadegan declared agriculture remains one of the least digitised sectors, despite representing a “multi-trillion-dollar industest that feeds the world”.

“Halter is altering that by bringing software, sensors, and AI directly into livestock operations in a way that ranchers actually adopt,” declared Mirzadegan in the same statement.

“Craig’s deep understanding of the ranchers he serves has enabled the company to build something that’s not just applyful, but mission-critical to how ranches run.”

Halter also plans to apply its latest funding to continue investing in product development, as well as hiring more than 200 people in what will be its largest-ever hiring spree.

The focus for these roles will be in product, engineering, and customer functions at the company’s headquarters in Auckland.

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