Between COVID-19, Avian Influenza, and African Swine Fever, ordinary consumers are more aware than ever of the risks of infectious diseases on animal and human health, and to society at large. Ag technology that helps farmers better prevent the spread of diseases is more relevant than ever, and that was a big part of the motivation for today’s guest, Rob Hannam, CEO of Farm Health Guardian. 

But Farm Health Guardian was far from the only livestock biosecurity agtech company in the space, and at some point, when the team came in contact with a competitor with a complementary suite of technologies, they did something unusual. The two companies merged.

Given the current state of agtech funding and global financial markets, we thought the time was right to invite Rob on to talk about how he and his team first started exploring the idea of a merger, how they thought about the decision, and how it helped them unlock new opportunities and a more complete product.

Rob joins us this week to discuss: 

• How Farm Health Guardian management thought about establishing enough trust to share valuable information with potential competitors
• The beat-by-beat of how a merger exploration begins, evolves, wins buy-in, and gets across the finish line
• Advice on identifying true complementarity for the tech and the team, and about getting the valuation right

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Useful Links:

• How to successfully merge with a startup competitor
• Digitizing Biosecurity to Prevent Disease Outbreaks | Rob Hannam (Popular Pig Podcast)
• Farm Health Guardian Ltd. and NoveTech Launch New Biosecurity System (Pork Business)
• The truth in the rumor of inevitable startup consolidation

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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.