# Sprout

> Sprout is a VC fund in Palmerston North backing Biotechnology, AgTech and Farming. See 20 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Palmerston North, New Zealand
- Total investments: 20
- Last investment: Mar 2026
- Lead investor: 65%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sprout-agritech-accelerator
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/sproutagritech
- Website: https://www.sproutagritech.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SproutAgritech

Sprout is a VC fund in Palmerston North focused on Biotechnology and AgTech. Sprout is seeking the world's best agritech & agrifood businesses to accelerate their growth and impact on the world. Sprout selects up to 12 companies per annum to participate in the world’s most advanced agritech business growth accelerator.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Biotechnology | 6 | 30% |
| AgTech | 3 | 15% |
| Farming | 3 | 15% |
| Software | 3 | 15% |
| Food and Beverage | 3 | 15% |

36 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pre-Seed | 8 | 40% |
| Seed | 7 | 35% |
| Non-equity Assistance | 5 | 25% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| New Zealand | 17 | 85% |
| Canada | 1 | 5% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Scanabull | Scanabull is a 3D vision to measure cattle live weight quickly and accurately, reducing handling stress and giving farmers, agents, and processors clear, real‑time weight data. It makes weighing easy, analysis simple, and sharing seamless for everyone who relies on live weight or carcass weight decisions. | $639.3K | Pre-Seed | Mar 23, 2026 |  |
| Forever Harvest | Forever Harvest is a food technology startup specializing in cellular horticulture. | $715.7K | Pre-Seed | Feb 24, 2026 |  |
| Bontia Bio | Bontia Bio is dedicated to creating natural parasiticides for crop protection and animal health. | $714.7K | Seed | Mar 26, 2025 |  |
| POP | POP offers a nutrient-packed supplement for pet dogs to reduce inflammation and support whole-body health. |  | Pre-Seed | Jan 21, 2025 |  |
| DNAiTECH | DNAiTECH is a biotechnology company developing innovative point-of-care (POC) diagnostics systems. It aims to meet the POC testing challenge, fulfilling the World Health Organisation’s ASSURED criteria and delivering rapid, robust molecular tests for use beyond the laboratory. | $150.6K | Pre-Seed | Oct 21, 2024 |  |
| Metrovate | Metrovate is a biotechnology company which enhance global health and sustainability via sophisticated research and development. | $604.2K | Seed | May 14, 2024 |  |
| Jooules | Jooules offers a sustainable food system to ensure a greener, healthier future by using fermentation technologies to create nutritious protein ingredients. | $612K | Pre-Seed | May 01, 2024 |  |
| Jooules | Jooules offers a sustainable food system to ensure a greener, healthier future by using fermentation technologies to create nutritious protein ingredients. | $593.3K | Seed | May 01, 2024 |  |
| Sapro-Tech | Sapro-Tech is a provider of sustainable leather from fungi intended to make handbags. | $607.3K | Pre-Seed | Jun 28, 2023 |  |
| Aimer Development | Aimer Farming is an agritech company that develops AI-powered tools to assist dairy farmers in optimizing pasture management and improving farm profitability. Aimer's primary product, Aimer Vision, is a smartphone-based application that utilizes machine vision and artificial intelligence to measure pasture cover. By performing a five-second,180-degree scan, the app estimates pasture mass with approximately 90% accuracy, providing immediate analysis and tailored recommendations for grazing and supplement planning. The system creates a digital twin of each paddock, learning growth rate patterns and predicting pasture performance. This enables farmers to plan inputs and resources up to 21 days in advance, enhancing operational efficiency and sustainability. | $581.3K | Seed | Nov 02, 2022 |  |

10 of 20 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Callaghan Innovation](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/callaghan-innovation) — VC Fund, 9 deals together
- [Finistere Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/finistere-ventures) — VC Fund, 8 deals together
- [Fonterra Co-operative Group](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/fonterra-co-operative-group) — VC Fund, 8 deals together
- [OurCrowd](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ourcrowd) — VC Fund, 8 deals together
- [E-Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/e-fund) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [MAVAN Capital Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mavan-capital-partners) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund
- [Everywhere Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/everywhere-ventures) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Sprout invest in?

Sprout invests primarily in Biotechnology, AgTech and Farming startups, most often at Pre-Seed and Seed stage. Most of the 20 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in New Zealand. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Sprout last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Sprout closed in Mar 2026. Shizune tracks 20 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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