Dunedin firm ‘delighted’ to secure support from fund
DUNEDIN veterinary diagnostics company Mastaplex is one of the first two recipients of LIC’s AgCelerator Fund.
The fund — launched in August — was for individuals and entities growing and scaling innovations value to the dairy industry. The investment amount was not yet public.
Mastaplex developed a proprietary mastitis testing device Mastatest which provided faster and more precise mastitis diagnosis on farm.
A cloudbased IT solution, Mastaplex is able to advise a farmer which cow has which bug within 24 hours, helping decrease antibiotic use.
Mastitis, which is an inflammation of the udder, was a costly financial burden to the dairy industry, both in New Zealand and globally. It was predominantly treated using antibiotics.
Mastaplex was founded by Olaf Bork and is based at the University of Otago’s Centre for Innovation.
In a statement, Dr Bork said he was excited to have the support of LIC, as mastitis cost the New Zealand dairy industry $180 million annually and was one of the biggest issues on farm.
‘‘Our product, Mastatest, guides antibiotic treatment decisions for mastitis and supports disease management, improves milk quality and combats against antimicrobial resistance.
‘‘We are delighted that our impact gets recognised by key dairy players in New Zealand,’’ he said.
Aucklandbased TrackBack, which uses blockchain technology in the agriculture sector to provide trust and transparency through the supply chain for global confidence in quality, integrity and provenance, was the other recipient.
The fund remained open to other applications.