The deal will see ComTag and Lilac employees join Herdwatch’s team of more than 80 people.
Herdwatch, the farm software company based in Tipperary, has snapped up two companies in Ireland and the UK to strengthen its position in the veterinary management software space.
The seven-figure deal includes the acquisition of Ireland’s ComTag and UK-based Lilac Technology, both of which provide tuberculosis and blood testing software to veterinary practices in their respective markets.
Together, ComTag and Lilac have a client base of more than 1,000 veterinary professionals across Ireland and the UK, who will now join the Herdwatch platform following the acquisition.
“ComTag and Lilac were pioneers in the AgTech field, and the leadership of their respective founders resulted in some of the earliest tech solutions for vets,” said Fabien Peyaud, CEO and co-founder of Herdwatch.
“The vet-farmer relationship is one of the most critical in food production, so it makes sense for Herdwatch to join the dots and be the first software platform in the world to bring farmers and vets together in the same digital ecosystem.”
Peyaud founded Herdwatch with the Farm Relief Services Network in 2012. Today, it is used in more than 170 countries, and the company focuses on the North American market.
Its platform aims to digitise and streamline livestock farming, helping farmers in Ireland and the UK save time, eliminate paperwork and make better farming decisions. Users pay an annual subscription based on their type of farm and its size.
In 2021, the start-up announced plans to double its workforce over a three-year period. More than a year later, it secured a multimillion-euro investment to support its growth plans across the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
Last June, Herdwatch snapped up Dublin-based farm software provider Kingswood Computing in a move that was expected to expand its customer base to include more than a third of Irish dairy farms on its platform.
The latest acquisition will see ComTag and Lilac employees join the Herdwatch team of more than 80 people, where they will continue to support their respective customers.
“Having been a practicing vet myself for over 30 years, I know first-hand how tough but also how important a job it is,” said Lilac founder and manager Andrew Cobner.
“With TB Master, we helped make vets’ lives easier for over 20 years, and I am very confident the Herdwatch team will take it to the next level.”
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