We are excited to announce that we have invested in Zondii, a technology company using globally patented verification technology, including a smartphone solution, to unlock the true value of food and fibre.
What does Zondii do?
Zondii was created to tackle some big challenges faced by food and fibre producers.
Zondii's globally patented technology revolutionises the food and fibre industry by providing a real-time verification and validation solution. This cutting-edge tech can seamlessly integrate into a smartphone or hand-held device for verification allowing growers, producers, and consumers to use it on-site in real-time. Say goodbye to outdated verification and validation methods, and hello to Zondii's game-changing solution.
Zondii’s immediate focus is on the Australian wool grower’s market, along with several major food industries that are experiencing fraud.
Why did Scalare invest?
unlocking the true value of wool
Solving problems for wool growers is top of Zondii’s agenda. 67 million sheep were shorn in Australia last year, yet on-farm wool-classing technology has advanced little since the year 2000. The current methods for on farm wool testing are outdated, costly and difficult to access.
Zondii’s tech is designed to drive efficiencies in the global on-farm wool grading marketplace. Using a multi-spectral scanning technique, users can easily and accurately detect the micron of wool (the unit of measure for the diameter of a wool fibre). The finer the micron, the better price a farmer can achieve for their wool.
A game-changer for farmers, Zondii’s solution provides accurate, real-time data at the press of a button. For farmers this information helps them reduce mustering labour, results in higher prices at wool auction, and saves money on future breeding decisions. And with farming costs increasing, improved productivity for wool growers is more important than ever before.
Zondii is currently focusing its efforts on targeting the 2300 farms located in New South Wales, Australia, which collectively own 11.5 million sheep. It is worth noting that the Australian market is comprised of 26,000 farms with a total of 67 million sheep, while the global market boasts a substantial figure of over 232 million sheep worldwide.
Solving Food Fraud
Food fraud and misrepresentation is a significant problem for the Australian food industry, with billions of dollars every year in lost revenue plus immeasurable loss in consumer confidence, health and safety. Products commonly impacted by food fraud include honey, tee tree oil, dairy products, meat and organically grown produce. These items are often mislabelled, adulterated, watered down with cheaper ingredients or entirely fraudulent.
Technology has a major role to play in addressing the issue of product fraud and Zondii is uniquely placed to be a trailblazing solution as it only needs a smartphone. This versatile solution can be applied to authenticate and classify a number of different commodities across various agricultural and horticultural industries.
Zondii has been working with AgriFutures Australia to successfully develop a smartphone verification solution to detect adulteration in Manuka Honey and Tea Tree Oil. The R&D has been completed and the project is moving into the commercialisation phase.
The Founder/Team
Zondii Founder and CEO Danielle Morton is an entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience in program delivery and execution, combined with start-up app development knowledge to deliver patented technology into the hands of consumers, producers and supply chains alike. Danielle is supported by a highly experienced team with world class expertise.
Head of Operations Crystal McGregor, is an entrepreneur with experience in multiple startups, backed by 18 years of owning an innovation consultancy that serviced major clients spanning State and Local Government; NFP; corporate; heavy industry and small business.
Digital Marketing Manager Emilie Pomeroy is highly experienced in leading the marketing efforts of startups. Chief Technology Officer, Khalid Hameed, co-founder of Bloxx, Pencil In & Postavox, has over 20 years' experience building, advising and directing technology platforms for Fintech, AgTech, B2C, B2B and Web3 projects.
They are joined by an impressive scientific team: Prof. Dr Udo Seiffert, Biosystems Engineer, created the smartphone and hand-held multispectral technology and specialises in AI, along with team member Dr Andreas Backhaus, Perception AI Specialist. Biochemist Dr Andrea Matros brings over 20 years’ experience in private industry and academia and is passionate about the biological makeup of food.
The team are supported by advisors with a wealth of academic, business, agriculture and entrepreneurial acumen.
The Product/technology
Zondii’s patented technology uses the smartphone’s camera to scan the product, taking multiple images in quick succession using multispectral scanning technology. Additional hand-held devices are utilised for on-farm robust solutions.
This imaging, paired with AI machine learning, picks up the unique spectral fingerprints of the product being tested, and results are delivered to the end user’s smartphone in real time. While multispectral imaging has been utilised in laboratories, art restoration, and space exploration for many years, Zondii is now bringing this technology directly to the hands of farmers, producers, and consumers, creating a truly unique solution that answers vital questions for the food and fibre industry.
MOMENTUM
Since launching Zondii in 2021 the response from leading wool and agricultural industrial bodies has been extremely positive. Zondii has partnered with Australian Wool Innovation Limited, enabling news of Zondii’s product to reach their vast membership of 22,000 sheep farms.
Zondii’s wool product is now in early stages of testing and has received an enthusiastic response from farmers who are keen to try out the technology.
2022’s Australian Farmer of the Year, Michael Taylor says:
“It is really exciting to see the technology finally coming.. being able to do it with hand-held technology, in the shed, in real-time, is pretty hard to beat”.
Zondii is working with TAFE NSW via the Armidale campus to help new wool classers have access to the latest technological advancements. And impressively, with no active marketing, the Zondii waitlist has grown to 188 farms with over 600,000 sheep.
Zondii technology is in trials with AgriFutures for other agricultural industries such as horticulture to improve yield and validate authenticity and provenance.
Scalare is thrilled to support Zondii as they work on developing their innovative solution that provides instant answers right at your fingertips.
Investment & Engagement
Scalare will be working closely with Zondii to deliver support in a range of business areas.
If you wish to discuss further, please contact Nick Roberts for an introduction to Danielle.
Read more about Zondii:
AgriFutures EvokeAG – September 2022
Beyond the Bale – December 2022
Beyond the Bale – March 2023
About Scalare
At Scalare, we’re on a mission to create a greater impact by building a collaborative network that connects exceptional founders, advisors and investors in a unique and powerful partnership, because real transformation and growth takes more than money.
Our unique collaboration and partnership model provides clear pathways to global investors, experts and markets. We plug existing skills gaps in our portfolio companies from our best-of-breed advisor network – to bring, expert resources exactly when needed to facilitate growth and deliver exceptional returns to investors and founders alike. Find out more >
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