Aussie agri-fintech DAS poised for global expansion after Canada’s ‘Telstra’ joins $3m raising

Australian agri-fintech company DAS (Digital Agriculture Services) has received the green light to expand its global footprint in Canada, following an investment from TELUS Ventures, the strategic investment arm of TELUS Corporation and one of Canada’s most active corporate venture capital funds.

TELUS’ injection into DAS is part of a $3 million raise with its existing investors – and ahead of a broader US series later this year. Since launching five years ago, the Australian agriculture startup has raised around $12 million and now has a tight-knit team of nearly 40 employees working across the board.

Born in 2017 out of a partnership with Australia’s national science and research agency CSIRO, DAS is an agriculture-focused fintech company operating at the intersection of digital transformation, nature-based hazards and global food security. Its founders and leaders are Anthony Willmott, CEO and co-founder; Sagit Shiran, Product Manager; Sarah Gorman, Founding Team and Head of Strategy and Marketing; Sam Atkinson, Head of Earth Observations; and Jenny McMahon, venture ops lead and culture.

The product-focused fintech company is already helping the agricultural and financial services industries change the way they lend, insure, invest finance and allocate capital in a high-risk climate.

Today, it is the only platform on the planet to automate the data that agricultural financial services explicitly need to build better businesses and a better agriculture industry, manage risk and grow sustainably. The company has opened its platform to farmers from the very beginning as part of democratizing access to what it sees as extended data-driven insights into the industry.

Anthony Willmott, CEO and co-founder with Matt Smith, who joins the DAS board. Source: Provided

The investment from TELUS Ventures will support DAS in scaling globally, inclusive expand its subscription-based Software as a Service (SaaS) and data products for agri business. This includes the ability to expand into North America as well commercial opportunities to partner with TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods, which works with more than 5,400 customers in more than 50 countries.

DAS co-founder and CEO Anthony Wilmott told SmartCompany that the investment is a milestone for the technology company.

“Partnering with TELUS Ventures will enable us to scale our ambitions globally,” he said.

DAS Marketing Strategy & Head Sarah Gorman said the investment from TELUS Ventures will support DAS to scale globally into North America and is a real testament to its five-year growth history.

“For us, it’s a signal of confidence in our business strategy and our global product strategy at a time when the landscape is changing radically,” she said.

“We are a fintech company focused on agriculture and we really work at the intersection of digital transformation, nature-based clothing as well as global food security. For us, what we’ve been told is that there’s no one doing what DAS does globally, and that’s why there’s been this investment.

“So the next step will be to test, iterate and build our product for the US and Canada, we’ll continue to solidify here in Australia and we’ll continue to expand across the board.

“We started in Australia where we are still strongly focused; expanded to NZ and now has opportunities in Canada.”

DAS investors today include founding equity partner CSIRO, the country’s largest non-life insurer IAG, Startmate and high net worth individuals. DAS is also a 2020 Startmate alumni from winter 2020.

TELUS Ventures Vice President Mario Mele said through its investment, it expects DAS to bring meaningful positive change to agriculture and its supporting financial services sector.

“DAS is already helping the agricultural industry and financial services materially transform the way it lends, insures, invests finance and allocates capital in a world with heightened concerns related to global food security,” he said.