Aussie agri-fintech DAS set for global expansion after TELUS joins $3 million raise

Australian agri-fintech company DAS (Digital Agriculture Services) has been given 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’s injection into DAS is part of a $3 million raise alongside its existing investors — and ahead of a broader US series later this year. Since its launch five years ago, the Australian agriculture startup has raised around $12 million and now has a tight-knit team of nearly 40 staff members working across the board.

Born in 2017 out of a partnership with Australia’s national science and research agency CSIRO, DAS is a fintech company that is focussed on agriculture, operating at the intersection of digital transformation, nature-based peril and global food security. Its founders and leadership team members are Anthony Willmott, CEO and co-founder; Sagit Shiran, chief product officer; Sarah Gorman, founding team and head of strategy and marketing; Sam Atkinson, Earth observations head; and Jenny McMahon, venture ops lead and culture.

The product-focused fintech company is already helping the agri-enterprise industry and the financial services materially transform the way it lends, insures, invests finance and allocates capital in a high-risk climate. 

Today, it is the only platform on the planet to automate the data agri-financial services explicitly needed to build better businesses and a better industry in agriculture, manage risk and grow sustainably. The company has opened up its platform to farmers from the very beginning as part of democratising access to what it sees as long-overdue data-backed insights in the industry.

Anthony Willmott, CEO & co-founder with Matt Smith, who’s joining the DAS Board. Source: Supplied

The investment from TELUS Ventures will support DAS in scaling globally, including expanding its subscription-based Software as a Service (SaaS) and data products for agri-enterprise. This includes the opportunity to expand into North America, as well as commercial opportunities to partner with TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods, which works with more than 5,400 customers across 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 ambition, globally,” he said.

DAS head of marketing and strategy Sarah Gorman said the investment from TELUS Ventures will support DAS in scaling globally into North America and is a real testament to its five-year growth story.

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

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

“So the next step will be testing, iterating and building our product for the US and Canada, we’ll continue to solidify here in Australia and we will continue to expand across.

“We started in Australia where we’re still heavily focused; expanded to NZ and are now fielding opportunities in Canada.”

DAS investors today include its founding equity partner CSIRO, the country’s biggest general 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 will bring meaningful positive change to agriculture and its supporting financial services sector.

“DAS is already helping the agri-enterprise industry and the financial services materially transform the way it lends, insures, invests finance and allocates capital in a world with increased concerns associated with global food security,” he said.