Australian tech leading new digital biosecurity infrastructure

SYDNEY, July 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- With highly pathogenic avian influenza expected to hit our shores in as little as six weeks, a real time biosecurity threat management system will be critical to response and recovery, according to Adrian Turner, co-founder of Australian tech startup ExoFlare.

ExoFlare has come out of stealth mode to launch a new category to protect global food systems: biosecurity threat management. Interest is already very strong, with Seed investors including VC fund Salus Ventures that led the round and W23.

ExoFlare's solutions were launched in 2022 by Silicon Valley veteran Adrian Turner and strategic risk expert Chris Aitken. The first products, which utilise ExoFlare's Biosecurity Threat Management Platform, have already been adopted across the pork, sheep, cattle, goat, poultry and egg sectors. ExoFlare is running on more than 400 poultry and egg sites, providing the ability to dynamically adjust site level quarantine rules.

"The industry-led biosecurity threat management category is going to be critical to protecting the domestic agriculture sector. It's also going to establish a new export industry for Australia to help protect the global food system," Adrian says.

Lead investor, Salus Ventures General Partner Dan Bennett says ExoFlare's solid credentials and data-driven approach made it a compelling investment opportunity.

"Our mission to build Australia's national resilience is brought to life when we partner with visionary teams. The exceptional qualities, values and reputations of co-founders Adrian Turner and Chris Aitken really drove us to lead the investment in the Seed Round," he says.

Cultiv8 Funds Management Partner Malcolm Nutt said the specialist agrifood tech fund was excited about ExoFlare for its ability to help producers, sectors and entire ecosystems manage threats such as avian flu. "We are seeing these issues play out right now, in the dairy sector in the US and in poultry in Australia," he says.

Ingrid Maes, Managing Director of W23, said their investment was driven by the track record of the team and a recognition that biosecurity is only going to become more important.

"We believe that an uplift in agfood biosecurity can be achieved in a way that benefits the whole value chain, leveraging common infrastructure."

The business currently has two products in market: ExoFlare People, to biosecurity risk assess people movements; and ExoFlare Transport, to assess transport journeys. More products are in development.