50 SMEs in total competed against each other to remain in the SmartAgriFood accelerator programme where the top 18 selected performers are going on to test their products in the field and participate in intensive business development support and training to bring their product successfully to market. Waterford company CF Pharma won this competitive process outright which resulted in additional funding of €140,000 giving them a total of €200,000 which the company are using to support business development.

CF Pharma, a company supported by South East BIC (Waterford), is at the cutting edge of SmartAgri technology with their new device. They have developed a technology called Telenostics that diagnoses sick animals within the hour via a mobile application. Indeed, their app provides virtually instant faecal egg count results on farm. Supporting the fact that Primary health care management starts on farm, CF Pharma provides the farmer with a simple diagnostic device to access the parasitic load of their herd, allowing them to treat their herd, prevent resistance and cross contamination while effectively targeting the species of parasites that are present in the specific animal.

Clare Hughes, Managing Director of CF Pharma Ireland is a serial entrepreneur who founded Nutriscience in 2000 and sold it in 2009. Since then she has set up Animal Farmacy as well as CF Pharma manufacturing. Between the three companies they employ 15 people and have turnover of €3 million in only their second year of operations.

Speaking of this new app, Clare says:  “The market is global and estimated to be worth $4.5 billion in 2018. With further intensification of farms with the drop of quotas and the restriction of antibiotics going into the food chain, there is a need for targeted treatment and accurate diagnosis. Currently there is nothing available that compares with best practice as the solution is complex”.

See other articles related to SmartAgrifood Accelerator Programme.

• Two SmartAgriFood companies selected for the European Venture Summit 2015!
• Connecterra awarded top honor at EU competitive pitch.
• CF Pharma + app can diagnose sick animals within an hour