In less than a year, NZ-based virtual fencing company Halter raised $165 million and then $220 million more, reaching a $2 billion valuation at a time when global agtech funding is down more than 70% from its peak. By any measure, that's a remarkable achievement.

But what does it actually mean?

In this episode, Halter founder and CEO Craig Piggott speaks with our producer and dairy farmer Kirsten Diprose about building the company from the ground up, from training cows on his parents' farm in the Waikato to shipping a million solar-powered collars across three countries.

Craig and Kirsten discuss:

• What virtual fencing is and why pasture-based farmers are adopting it
• The technical and behavioural challenges of building reliable hardware for animals
• Halter’s evolution from a tech-first experiment into a farmer-first platform
• What scaling from New Zealand into Australia and the US actually looks like

The conversation was recorded at the Australian Dairy Conference just before Halter’s Series E announcement. Host Sarah Nolet shares her own perspectives at the end, including the questions she wished she'd been able to ask Craig directly.

Useful Links:

• Halter raises $220M in Series E less than a year after raising $165M Series D
• Kiwi AI farming start-up worth $2.9b as Peter Thiel invests
• Halter says it’s not an agtech company on the heels of $220m Series E
• The Innovation Sweet Spot: Aligning Corporates, Startups and Investors, with Brad Fruth and Frank Wooten 

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The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

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