“Facebook for Cows” goes global.
American company Virtus Nutrition has acquired Croatian startup Farmeron, known for its software application for management of livestock farms which was once informally called “Facebook for cows”, reports Jutarnji List on August 10, 2016.
The startup from Osijek was founded by Matija Kopić, and its software is now used by some of the largest milk producers in the United States.
Virtus Nutrition is working on developing new formulas and ingredients for animal feed in order to increase the efficiency of milk production and reproduction of animals and is owned by Matt Swanson, a well-known California businessman who has founded several companies in the agricultural sector and was among early investors in Farmeron.
Kopić announced that Farmeron and Virtus shared “a common vision of placing technology and data at the centre of a new paradigm of farm management”. Their goal is to know “everything about every animal on a farm”.
According to the terms of acquisition, Farmeron will remain a separate company and Kopić will remain the CEO. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed. According to estimates, the management software market for farms will grow to 4.07 billion dollars by 2022 (last year it was worth 1.14 billion dollars). “This is a great opportunity for growth and innovation. Virtus and Farmeron will join forces to remain leaders in the technological revolution that affects small and large farm systems”, reads a statement released by the two companies.
Farmeron is a big data system to manage dairy farms. The system collects large amounts of information about animals (nutrition, health, reproduction, milk production, medicines, etc.). Based on the analysis of the data, the software helps farmers make correct decisions.
“The vast majority of our users are located in the United States, but in fact we have customers all over the world”, announced the company in May, when they said they were going to conquer new markets in China and South America. The company employs 43 workers, 32 in two Croatian offices in Osijek and Zagreb, and 11 in the United States.
