Argentine startup 'Cattler' gains ground among US beef cattle operators
The company is present in over 10 US States
27 October 2023
3 minute read
By: Cattler is one of the newest digital platforms for the cattle industry, specifically focused on feedlots, and it's growing fast in the Midwest and Canada: more than 20% per month in 2023, according to a company press release.
With a special ability to interact with any livestock and feed equipment in place like scales and EID readers, and a focus on rapid adaptation to feedback from their farmer customers, the company has been in a constant rally of updates for over a year, quickly improving and adding features at a relentless pace.
Initially focused as a feeding program for farmer feeders, it has widened the scope to become an all in one platform, placing a big bet on individual management and Animal Health, with novel features in these areas, like a pen rider feature, animal treatment functionalities and a Cattle Processing Chute feature, all integrated into the same app.
More recently it has begun to partner with other companies in partnerships to offer other products to the farmer through this platform. An example of this is a new insurance feature, in partnership with the insurance company Stockguard, through which Cattler is providing LRP (Livestock Risk Protection) for farmers via the app (video).
Along with institutional and strategic investors, Cattler has received funding from cattle feeders: 'Having our members invest in the company is a great validation not only for us but also for the industry as a whole. It is really our users who not only help us create the product but most importantly want to see us succeed', states Ignacio Albornoz, one of the founders and the CEO of the company. Cattler has raised around $1.5 million over the last three years, mainly from cattle feeders, Angel Investors and Venture Capital companies, both in the US and Argentina, where the founders are originally from.
The company has been selected by two top tier accelerators in the US: Plug and Play, an early investor in companies like Google, Paypal and Dropbox, and Thrive Agrifood, part of SVG Ventures, a fund specialized in agriculture.
Cattler Corporation is a US company founded by three Argentinians: Ignacio Albornoz, Martín Garbulsky and Ezequiel Conti. The company initially worked developing imagery-based sensors and automation for the ag industry, especially for the cattle industry, and later on transitioned to focus only in the beef cattle industry, and on the platform, leaving other products and prototypes as side projects that complement the main business, which is the Cattler platform. Coming from the sensor and automation environment, the team previously had very good experience interacting with devices from other companies, like scales and EID readers, so that has given them an edge in the hardware side.
Nick Czarnik, 30, from Genoa, Nebraska, has been taking over the reins of his family farm gradually over the last couple of years.
"At first I began to make some decisions on the cow-calf side of our operation, and after a while I focused on the feedyard, trying to add something new to how we were going about things," he said.
For around half a year, Czarnik has been soaking up the experience of working with software, being able to share input as well as following the pace of the app's new features.
'We always knew there was a better way to handle the farm, but I just needed to find a program that was also simple and friendly for my dad to use daily," he said. "They have recently released the Animal Health and the Processing Chute sections, which are a game changer for us."
