BioScout secures Hort Innovation funding to expand world-first disease detection tech

A Sydney-based company behind a world-first system that tracks crop diseases in real-time using AI has secured funding from the Hort Innovation Fund to expand its technology and help farmers effectively manage agricultural health.

Founded in 2019 by Lewis Collins, Saron Berhane, Henry Brindle and Josh Wilson, BioScout works by continuously drawing in air to capture spores and particles, scanning them with a robotic microscope and using AI to detect crop diseases in real time, with results delivered to growers via an online dashboard.

The dashboard also shows growers the atmospheric conditions and disease patterns across farms and whole regions, helping them make decisions about where and when to spray crops.

“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,” BioScout CEO Lewis 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.”

In 2020, BioScout was already proving its technology in the field, securing a trial with one of Far North Queensland’s major banana growers. The trial focused on monitoring for Fusarium wilt, a devastating soil-borne disease present on nearby farms, to test whether continuous spore tracking could reduce spraying and improve biosecurity.

The three-month trial on a 15-hectare plot showed that BioScout’s monitoring allowed the grower to cut back four sprays, reducing costs and chemical use while maintaining crop protection.

Now, the company is working on developing a new tracking model that combines spore and weather data to give growers a clear and real time view of their disease risk, a feature that traditional weather-based systems are not able to provide.

The latest capital injection comes from Hort Innovation – a Sydney-based not-for-profit Research & Development Corporation (RDC), funded by growers and the Australian Government to support innovation across the horticulture industry.

It is one of 15 Australian RDCs, which include organisations such as the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), Dairy Australia and the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC).

While the amount invested by Hort Innovation is undisclosed, the funding will help the company commercialise its technology and further develop its platform.

“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,” Hort Innovation Venture Fund CEO Brett Fifield 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.”