Inaugural recipient BioScout provides cutting-edge solutions to disease detection and management in horticulture crops
The Hort Innovation Venture Fund has made its inaugural investment supporting automated disease detection provider, BioScout.
As Australia’s first horticulture-focused venture capital fund, The Hort Innovation Venture Fund was created in 2024 in partnership with Artesian Venture Partners to accelerate innovation across by investing in early-stage, high-growth startups.
This investment in BioScout back cutting-edge solutions to revolutionise disease detection and management in horticulture crops.
Brett Fifield, CEO of Hort Innovation said this investment is about delivering real, on-the-ground benefits for growers.
“By supporting BioScout’s innovative disease monitoring technology, we’re helping growers access tools to make faster, data-driven decisions that protect crops and improve yields,” he said.
“We’re serious about backing technologies that solve real problems quickly for growers and are thrilled to have BioScout on board to do this. This is just one example of how Hort Innovation Frontiers – which our Venture Fund is funded by – is focusing on the accelerated deployment of research and development solutions to get them into the hands of growers faster.”
Jane Parker, agricultural development manager at McCormick Foods Australia shared her experience with BioScout.
“BioScout technology is developing as a key line of defence against fungal diseases,” she said. “Further investment will facilitate the extension of the BioScout network to new geographies, increasing grower knowledge of spore behaviour and management.”
Lewis Collins, CEO of BioScout said the investment would support further development of the company’s disease detection technology
“We are very excited about this investment from Hort Innovation as it enables us to further develop and commercialise our world-first disease detection technology,” Collins said. “With Hort Innovation’s support we can now deliver even more value to our rapidly growing horticultural customer base and ultimately benefit the entire industry.”
Jordan Jeffery, Investment Principal at Artesian added: “We’re particularly impressed with BioScout’s ability to integrate cutting-edge AI with practical hardware on-farm. Their platform doesn’t just detect disease in real time; it provides growers with the foresight to act before outbreaks escalate. This predictive capability is a game-changer for horticulture growers, regulators and the broader agricultural value chain.”
