Aussie agritech company turns to equity crowdfunding to aid expansion

DIT Technologies, an Australian-based agriculture technology company, has announced it's looking to expand operations in the country through equity crowdfunding.

DIT Technologies' flagship solution is a proprietary remote monitoring and water supplementation technology that allows farmers to monitor what supplements are given to their animals regardless of where they are.

According to the company, this technology usurps traditional farming methods and helps farmers to reduce their environmental impact, enhance animal welfare, reduce labour, increase productivity, and ultimately save money.

DIT Technologies has teamed up with Birchal to launch the equity crowdfunding initiative, with the long term view of expanding market reach, bringing more employees on board and improving the solution for farmers.

The page can be found on the Birchal website, with registrations of interest currently available and the funding expected to be open in October.

DIT Technologies Founder and CEO Mark Peart says, "We have a strong base of farmers in the Northern Territory and Queensland currently using our technology, but we now want to help even more farmers by expanding further across these states and into New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.

"We are excited to now engage with investors for the next chapter of our journey. Through equity crowdfunding with Birchal we hope to fund our expansion south, grow our team, increase production, further our data collection to help farmers make sustainable decisions, and commercialise our horticulture offer, where our technology could be used for water conservation, input efficiency and reducing run-off into waterways.

Peart took over the water supplementing business in 2016 from his father, with the view of improving the product range and harnessing its proprietary technology to develop new applications in other agricultural and commercial sectors, and provide economical, practical and sustainable solutions for farmers.

He says, "Australia's 97 million cattle and sheep are mainly grass fed and need supplements to overcome the nutritional deficiencies of native grasses to increase wellbeing.

"Our technology provides a cheaper, more effective way of supplementing livestock equally through controlled dosing of their drinking water, with Australian farmers realising up to 15% production gains and 40% cost savings.

Birchal cofounder Matt Vitale says, "We're thrilled to be working with DIT Technologies. They operate at the cutting-edge of agricultural technology globally, helping farmers achieve economical, sustainable and ethical food production.

He says, "The CSF industry is helping to raise awareness of impressive Australian businesses by providing opportunities that all Australians can invest in. Agtech in particular is a sector where Australia has the opportunity to punch well above its weight on the world stage.

"We're delighted to help DIT Technologies offer this opportunity to Australian investors.

In the last 12 months, DIT Technologies has grown significantly and currently employs 25 full time staff. The company grew from one office in Toowoomba to eight offices across Australia, most recently opening a manufacturing factory in Townsville in August.

Despite COVID-19, the company's revenue has also increased in the past year by 488% to just over $3.5 million, with a 1200% increase in revenue earnings from 2018 to 2020.

On COVID-19, Peart says, "We pivoted our business earlier in the year to offer a full-service model to larger farms, where our team manages and implements the entire water supplementation program, and developed our rental model to provide flexibility for farmers and smooth the path to adoption, which has helped us maintain our rapid growth.

He says, "Our team has an unrelenting passion and commitment to provide solutions through new technology and the Internet of Things that drive innovation and productivity to help famers feed our growing population.

"The global population is predicted to be over 9 billion by 2050 and farmers will need to increase food production globally by 60% to meet this demand. To achieve this, we need to innovate and integrate technology in agriculture to find efficiencies and more sustainable resource usage, encouraging farmers to farm smarter.