Profile
Aidan Connolly has been working for global animal nutrition company Alltech for over 20 years where he was the head of innovation. In February 2019 he took op the position as CEO of Cainthus. Next to this role he writes books and started AgriTech Capital in 2018, a resource for new and established compa- nies working at the interface of agriculture and technology.
cannot be seen from every camera position. “That is why it is so important to test the cameras on real farms, so that we know the challenges the technique faces.” According to Mr Connolly, the start-up benefits from the fact that the founders have their roots in agriculture. “People ask me, why did you become the CEO of just a start-up? But it is not just a start-up. The founders under- stand how farms work. I think this is a great benefit they have, compared to other start-ups in agriculture technology. It will de- termine the success of Cainthus. Other start-ups often have expe- rience with technology, but not with farming or agriculture. That may be a pitfall.”
Investment by Cargill Last year Cainthus received an undisclosed investment from Car- gill and the two entered in a partnership. The interest of Cargill to invest and cooperate with Cainthus comes from its quest to find strategies to use digital technologies to fundamentally improve livestock and aquaculture operations. Mr Connolly: “The develop- ment of technology is complicated and expensive. Therefore, it needs substantial investment to develop further.” But not only the money is important. Cainthus can take advantage of Cargill’s net- work with ‘the right partners, farms and markets’. Despite the partnership with the big agricultural company, it is important
Cainthus stays independent. “We want to keep the flexibility and the room for our own ideas.” The investment of Cargill in Cainthus was very important, start-ups do not necessarily need corporates for capital or success, says Mr Connolly. “Venture capital or fund- ing for example, can also work. Corporates may need start-ups more than the other way around in business but agriculture faces unique challenges, for example route to market and in such a case having a corporate or strategic partner makes a lot of sense.” When he was innovation officer of one of the biggest agribusi- nesses in the world, setting up the Pearse Lyons Accelerator, Mr Connolly experienced the real benefits of involvement with start- ups. “Start-ups take more risks and feel more pressure for innova- tion. New techniques or products rarely come from big corpora- tions anymore. Typically the bigger the company, the less innovation occurs inside the company. Innovation from the start- ups, however, can act as the pipeline for new ideas.” When Con- nolly looks to the future, he sees a bright one. “I think that the camera technology from Cainthus will be widely used on farms within five years. Especially on larger farms, with herd sizes above 200 cows. By then, we would also be using the technology for other species like pigs and poultry. I expect that Cainthus will be a so called ‘unicorn’ in three to five years, the name given to a start- up company valued at over USD$ 1 billion.”
▶DAIRY GLOBAL | Volume 6, No. 2, 2019 9
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