New Zealand's agriculture innovation stars revealed
Some of New Zealand's most promising agritech startups are on show at Fieldays this week, but at least one has raised concerns about the demise of the government's innovation agency, Callaghan Innovation.
The agency is being shut down as part of the government's wide-sweeping science system
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Otago Daily Times
5 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Investor backing sought by ovine collagen company
A Christchurch biotech company extracting an innovative protein from sheepskins to make mainly health benefit and nutrition ingredients for export markets is about to launch a capital raise. Tertiary Extracts Ōtautahi (TEO) has quickly grown to 30 staff and set up a factory processing more than 550 tonnes of waste sheepskins into collagen since beginning operations last year. The company was created by four co-founders, including chief scientific officer Dr Rob Kelly, who want to build sales in the functional foods, dietary supplements and personal care sectors. Research began in 2021 to develop Ovitage — ovine collagen with a greater range of amino acids higher in cystine, tyrosine and glutamic acid — followed by marketplace testing. Initial ingredient sales to the United States, with plans to enter Europe and Asia, and TEO's launch of its own range for women encouraged the founders to seek investment to step up production. Dr Kelly said the capital raise was expected to take place within the next few months. "We are in the beginnings of business and, based on the opportunity that we see from this interest we are getting in early exports, we are looking to grow significantly. So we will be undertaking a capital raise shortly to drive this growth both in the entry of new markets and supporting further work to identify different health benefits." They wanted to ideally work with strategic investors who understood the overall sector and specifically the nutritional market, he said. They were "open and flexible" to a range of possibilities, which could include a shareholding. Initial investment came from the founders and their families and friends, with support also from Callaghan Innovation, Ārohia Innovation Trailblazer grant and the Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust (Agmardt). Development research was carried out at Lincoln Agritech. Dr Kelly said they saw the main growth for the "world's most complete collagen" coming from the branded ingredient market, but had just released a finished product brand. Last October, TEO launched its Everee Women range of functional protein supplements, with different product formulations for each stage of women's lives. The range is combined with local plant extracts and biologicals to help with ageing and menopause. Another perimenopause product combines Ovitage with a kiwifruit extract for gut health, while a post-menopause product has a blackcurrant extract to help brain health and cognitive performance. Dr Kelly said women's health was a key area of focus because TEO's highly functional proteins addressed their under-served needs. TEO is a finalist in the technology innovation category for the Primary Industries New Zealand Awards and also an early-stage category finalist in the Fieldays Innovation Awards. The founders had been working in the nutritional space for many years in dietary and food supplements, particularly in the US. "The [global] collagen market is over $US9 billion [about $NZ14.9b] and still growing quickly, so we saw that New Zealand didn't really operate in it of any significance and we also saw opportunities in that market." Bovine collagen had associated environmental issues as it could come from factory-farmed beef or cattle raised on Brazilian land clear-felled of rain forest, while consumers were seeking differentiated proteins providing health benefits, he said. "So, we looked at New Zealand materials and we produce a lot of raw material for collagen in the form of sheepskins from the red meat sector which are traceable, ethically sourced and grass fed with no-one felling rain forests to grow sheep and the sheepskin has a novel material. Nobody has really looked at ovine collagens and it barely features in this massive collagen market so we undertook the research to look at that." Hundreds of thousands of waste sheepskins supplied by red meat processors would likely have gone into landfills. A novel way was developed to isolate proteins from sheepskin materials to produce the patented Ovitage process and product for ovine collagen. The amino acid profile produced a differentiated protein with greater health benefits, he said. "Those amino acids are well understood as being important in particular health areas, and these were identified through our market analysis which were not being well met by existing proteins, particularly in women's health in the menopause area and the sport nutrition area." For example, cystine aided healthy hair and nails, which was important for menopausal women, and helped with leaky gut syndrome. A higher level of branched chain amino acids assisted with building and maintaining lean body mass, particularly for ageing women and men. TEO proteins are mainly sold in powder form for overseas customers to make their own smoothies, protein bars, gummies and other formulations or turn into capsules for dietary supplements.
Otago Daily Times
5 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Investor backing sought by bovine collagen company
A Christchurch biotech company extracting an innovative protein from sheepskins to make mainly health benefit and nutrition ingredients for export markets is about to launch a capital raise. Tertiary Extracts Ōtautahi (TEO) has quickly grown to 30 staff and set up a factory processing more than 550 tonnes of waste sheepskins into collagen since beginning operations last year. The company was created by four co-founders, including chief scientific officer Dr Rob Kelly, who want to build sales in the functional foods, dietary supplements and personal care sectors. Research began in 2021 to develop Ovitage — ovine collagen with a greater range of amino acids higher in cystine, tyrosine and glutamic acid — followed by marketplace testing. Initial ingredient sales to the United States, with plans to enter Europe and Asia, and TEO's launch of its own range for women encouraged the founders to seek investment to step up production. Dr Kelly said the capital raise was expected to take place within the next few months. "We are in the beginnings of business and, based on the opportunity that we see from this interest we are getting in early exports, we are looking to grow significantly. So we will be undertaking a capital raise shortly to drive this growth both in the entry of new markets and supporting further work to identify different health benefits." They wanted to ideally work with strategic investors who understood the overall sector and specifically the nutritional market, he said. They were "open and flexible" to a range of possibilities, which could include a shareholding. Initial investment came from the founders and their families and friends, with support also from Callaghan Innovation, Ārohia Innovation Trailblazer grant and the Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust (Agmardt). Development research was carried out at Lincoln Agritech. Dr Kelly said they saw the main growth for the "world's most complete collagen" coming from the branded ingredient market, but had just released a finished product brand. Last October, TEO launched its Everee Women range of functional protein supplements, with different product formulations for each stage of women's lives. The range is combined with local plant extracts and biologicals to help with ageing and menopause. Another perimenopause product combines Ovitage with a kiwifruit extract for gut health, while a post-menopause product has a blackcurrant extract to help brain health and cognitive performance. Dr Kelly said women's health was a key area of focus because TEO's highly functional proteins addressed their under-served needs. TEO is a finalist in the technology innovation category for the Primary Industries New Zealand Awards and also an early-stage category finalist in the Fieldays Innovation Awards. The founders had been working in the nutritional space for many years in dietary and food supplements, particularly in the US. "The [global] collagen market is over $US9 billion [about $NZ14.9b] and still growing quickly, so we saw that New Zealand didn't really operate in it of any significance and we also saw opportunities in that market." Bovine collagen had associated environmental issues as it could come from factory-farmed beef or cattle raised on Brazilian land clear-felled of rain forest, while consumers were seeking differentiated proteins providing health benefits, he said. "So, we looked at New Zealand materials and we produce a lot of raw material for collagen in the form of sheepskins from the red meat sector which are traceable, ethically sourced and grass fed with no-one felling rain forests to grow sheep and the sheepskin has a novel material. Nobody has really looked at ovine collagens and it barely features in this massive collagen market so we undertook the research to look at that." Hundreds of thousands of waste sheepskins supplied by red meat processors would likely have gone into landfills. A novel way was developed to isolate proteins from sheepskin materials to produce the patented Ovitage process and product for ovine collagen. The amino acid profile produced a differentiated protein with greater health benefits, he said. "Those amino acids are well understood as being important in particular health areas, and these were identified through our market analysis which were not being well met by existing proteins, particularly in women's health in the menopause area and the sport nutrition area." For example, cystine aided healthy hair and nails, which was important for menopausal women, and helped with leaky gut syndrome. A higher level of branched chain amino acids assisted with building and maintaining lean body mass, particularly for ageing women and men. TEO proteins are mainly sold in powder form for overseas customers to make their own smoothies, protein bars, gummies and other formulations or turn into capsules for dietary supplements.
RNZ News
6 days ago
- RNZ News
Rural innovation sets the scene for New Zealand's future
The Innovation Hub is the spot where Kiwis can showcase their inventions, highlighting the future of agricultural technology and advancement. Photo: Fieldays Jeffery To was twiddling his thumbs at home during Covid lockdown when he came up with the idea of a robot that could scour our waterways and collect pollution data. "My wife was getting sick of me being at home all the time," says the Waikato engineer. "After watching YouTube I built an autonomous boat that mapped the local lake with the target or vision of cleaning the lake forever." In true number eight wire fashion, he built the miniature boat with three PVC pipes and a metal tray, but the technology on board the vessel was groundbreaking and expensive. He posted his mapping of the lake on social media and caught the attention of Waikato Regional Council. Jeffery To showing The Detail's Sharon Brettkelly the MĀKI boat V2 - Hydrohub, a boat that maps and monitors water quality. Photo: Davina Zimmer "They asked me if I would be interested in mapping other lakes. I said certainly. Since then I've learned a lot about water quality in New Zealand, what can we do, what should we do, what is possible." To's engineering/technology company, Māki, was one of dozens of exhibitors in the innovation hall at Fieldays last week and a finalist in the Prototype Award. He tells The Detail the Māki boat is also capable of mapping parts of harbours and the sea around islands that humans cannot reach by car or boat. He has deliberately kept the materials cheap so that councils can afford them, and put the money into the technology that maps and collects data. "With the engineer background, we first identify how big the problem is. With the boat, we know how bad the problems are. The next thing is finding solutions that can do things in a sustainable way to help with the problem, how do we slow it down," To says. "But in order to reverse it I think there's a lot more work and I hope that with technology and innovation we can help a little bit." A few booths away in the innovation hall, Chris Harper explains how the small mats sitting on his display table were concocted in his kitchen from kiwifruit waste. Chris Harper, operations manager of Kiwi Leather Innovations. Photo: Davina Zimmer On the wall behind him are photos of luxury fashion boots and handbags. They are the vision of KiwiLeather Innovations, run by Harper and his partner Shelley Houston. After hours of experiments in their kitchen, the vegan leather is now in development at Scion, the crown research institute in Rotorua. Harper says the market viable product should be ready by November, but the couple is already in talks with major global brands including Adidas, BMW and Victoria Beckham. He says the next step is to get funding to set up a pilot project. "We are going to have to find some space in the Tauranga region where we can set up our first presses to get the moisture out of the kiwifruit, our first kilns to dry the kiwifruit to make the powder and our first compounding area where we can actually make our secret sauce." Harper says they expect to produce up to 10,000 square metres of KiwiLeather. Another iconic New Zealand product, wool, is a special focus at this agriculture expo. After years in the doldrums, wool is starting to make a comeback, according to Angus Hansen, founder and operations manager of Wisewool. "It has definitely turned a corner," says Hansen, sitting on an all-wool and wood couch in the It's Wool booth, surrounded by other products made from the fibre by several companies. A wool couch decorated with woollen blankets, pillows and throws was the centre piece of the Wisewool booth. Photo: Davina Zimmer "We [Wisewool] source wool from about 300 farms in the Tairāwhiti region, which is around three million kilos. We use a portion of that for Wisewool which is value added and we sell our products mainly into bedding and furniture - which we're sitting on now - globally." Hansen says the company is paying its farmer suppliers more than the market rate. "Farmers are making money off their wool again. So, yeah, wool has been in a tough spot for actually quite a long time and it finally feels like [with] the groundswell of us making changes [and] adding value, farmers are finally making money off their wool again." Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
