SlideShare a Scribd company logo
Ten years of tech development and
company building
Prof. Toby Mottram FREng
Our Market is Global and growing
200 m cows worldwide with annual income of £2000 = £40bn
turnover pa. Growing at 4-8 % annually, 1 million managers
Robotic Milker
invented in UK
commercialised
by de Laval
Main Challenges in Dairy Cow
Management
 Getting Cows pregnant (fertility)
 Feeding them correctly (rumen nutrition)
 Health management
 Calving (transition)
 Lameness
 Mastitis

Ecow invented rumen pH bolus
Patented 2007
Inserted by mouth
Retained in cows stomach
Data downloaded by radio to smartPhone
Improves cow nutrition
500 sold annually with 40% growth annually
 Developing in-line milk analysis of progesterone
 Solving the fertility crisis in dairying
 Raised £1.2 m of grants and equity investment
 Now recruiting engineers and analysts
 Product Launch planned for 2018
 Visionary
 To map global animal health data and drug use
 A strategy for the next 20 years
 Opportunistic
 SmartAgriFood 100% funded !
 We had a software team but no money
 Needed capability in RESTful tech in eCow and
Milkalyser
 Raised our profile
VirtualVet (2014….)
Now a company with a growing database but no paying customers yet
Getting eCow Started
 Filed a patent (cost £130)
 Won a £70k grant from Smart Scotland
 First customer 2011
 Kept the day job at Scottish Enterprise
 Recruited a designer
 Grew with sales, retain good people,
sack the bad
Start small, aim large
 Don’t give up the day job
 Keep the costs down
 Bootstrap
 Win grants
 Free money but there is a cost
 File patents
 With minimal help
 Be opportunistic
 Survive
 What do funders want
 Jobs - GVA
 Growth
 Visible results
 Fashion driven
 Need matching funding
Grantsmanship
 Check out the scope
 Do background research
 what is the hit rate ?
 How big is the fund ?
 Cost/benefit of writing the proposal
 Look at the submission date
 Recycle words from the call
 Help the assessors see that the call requirements are met
 Make use of resubmit options if you get turned down
Summary
 After 10 years
 I am not rich
 I work about 40 hours a week
 I am rarely stressed by money or work
 I have an exit plan to sell the businesses as they
mature
 I have participated in revolutionising the dairy industry
 I love Friday afternoons when I look around me...

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10 years on... (Building AgriTec companies)

  • 1. Ten years of tech development and company building Prof. Toby Mottram FREng
  • 2. Our Market is Global and growing 200 m cows worldwide with annual income of £2000 = £40bn turnover pa. Growing at 4-8 % annually, 1 million managers
  • 3.
  • 4. Robotic Milker invented in UK commercialised by de Laval
  • 5. Main Challenges in Dairy Cow Management  Getting Cows pregnant (fertility)  Feeding them correctly (rumen nutrition)  Health management  Calving (transition)  Lameness  Mastitis 
  • 6. Ecow invented rumen pH bolus Patented 2007 Inserted by mouth Retained in cows stomach Data downloaded by radio to smartPhone Improves cow nutrition 500 sold annually with 40% growth annually
  • 7.  Developing in-line milk analysis of progesterone  Solving the fertility crisis in dairying  Raised £1.2 m of grants and equity investment  Now recruiting engineers and analysts  Product Launch planned for 2018
  • 8.  Visionary  To map global animal health data and drug use  A strategy for the next 20 years  Opportunistic  SmartAgriFood 100% funded !  We had a software team but no money  Needed capability in RESTful tech in eCow and Milkalyser  Raised our profile VirtualVet (2014….) Now a company with a growing database but no paying customers yet
  • 9. Getting eCow Started  Filed a patent (cost £130)  Won a £70k grant from Smart Scotland  First customer 2011  Kept the day job at Scottish Enterprise  Recruited a designer  Grew with sales, retain good people, sack the bad
  • 10. Start small, aim large  Don’t give up the day job  Keep the costs down  Bootstrap  Win grants  Free money but there is a cost  File patents  With minimal help  Be opportunistic  Survive  What do funders want  Jobs - GVA  Growth  Visible results  Fashion driven  Need matching funding
  • 11. Grantsmanship  Check out the scope  Do background research  what is the hit rate ?  How big is the fund ?  Cost/benefit of writing the proposal  Look at the submission date  Recycle words from the call  Help the assessors see that the call requirements are met  Make use of resubmit options if you get turned down
  • 12. Summary  After 10 years  I am not rich  I work about 40 hours a week  I am rarely stressed by money or work  I have an exit plan to sell the businesses as they mature  I have participated in revolutionising the dairy industry  I love Friday afternoons when I look around me...