BioScout seed round funding has brought in A$6.75 million (US$4.8 million) for the Australian startup developing an AI-driven early warning system that alerts growers to airborne fungal pathogens. The seed financing was co-led by Demea Sustainable Investment and Astanor, with participation from GrainInnovate, GrainCorp Ventures, Hort Innovation Venture Fund, Artesian, and Division Q. The Sydney-based company plans to expand in Europe and grow its global sensor network from 250 to 1,000 units by 2029, according to the company.
A partner at Astanor said the company addresses a significant problem for farmers by offering real-time spore detection and building a unique dataset that enhances its impact. The investor added that many growers currently over-apply chemicals or face major crop losses because they cannot detect pathogens early enough.
Why BioScout seed round funding matters
Founder and CEO Lewis Collins, PhD, said growers often rely on routine preventative spraying weekly, fortnightly, or monthly rather than waiting for confirmation that a pathogen is present, since visible symptoms appear too late to avoid heavy losses. He noted that once infection is detected in the crop, growers are pushed toward costly curative fungicides that are difficult to deploy effectively. By the time lesions appear, pathogens may already have reproduced and spread, creating what Collins described as an expensive, reactive cycle.
How it works
BioScout is designed to spot airborne fungal risks before symptoms show in the field, said Collins. Each device continuously draws air using a wind vane and captures particles, including spores, on clear adhesive tape. After each sampling period, the tape moves under an onboard microscope that records hundreds of high-resolution images. These images are transmitted to BioScout for analysis by trained AI models. Combined with weather data such as temperature, humidity, pressure, rainfall, and wind conditions, the platform estimates infection risk in the days ahead.
Each sensor tracks more than 40 airborne threats, from crop-disease spores to pollen and particulates. Acting on early alerts instead of calendar-based sprays can cut spray costs by up to 50 percent in some high-value crops, Collins said. The approach has been validated through genetic and morphological confirmation and field trials linking spore counts to disease incidence and infection.
Collins emphasized that the system quantifies spore concentration and interprets how it changes over time. A short-lived spike may reflect spores blowing in without establishing infection, while a subsequent rise can indicate a completed local life cycle and an increasing risk.
Actionable insights
Growers access data via a dashboard, but BioScout focuses on alerts when spore levels rise. Users can input spray programs and assess whether treatments are lowering pathogen pressure. Collins described notifications and alerts as the core service, prompting growers to check fields when spore levels trend upward. Cartridges can run for up to two years without replacement, and the devices are built for remote broadacre environments with minimal maintenance. The company is also adapting the system for greenhouses using direct power instead of solar.
Sensor density depends on crop and disease. In Australian grain regions, devices placed about every 30 kilometers can provide regional coverage for rusts that travel long distances on wind. Vineyards may need roughly one unit per 100 hectares, since diseases such as downy mildew spread over shorter ranges.
BioScout’s tech identifies spores from fungal pathogens such as Alternaria in potatoes, Stemphylium in onions and Leptosphaeria maculans in canola. Image credit: BioScout
Target crops
Potato production has emerged as a strong fit for the technology due to high disease pressure and diminishing fungicide performance, with deployments in Europe, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. The company expects to have about 20 to 25 systems operating in Brazilian soybeans by year-end. Collins said teams are also in discussions in the United States around cyclospora in lettuce.
According to Collins, crop-protection companies have shown unexpected interest. While the platform can enable fewer sprays, he said chemical suppliers recognize that overapplication, reduced rates, and poorly timed applications contribute to resistance, and are monitoring the technology closely.
The business case
Each unit sells for about A$15,000 (US$10,500), with annual service fees around US$7,000 to US$14,000, depending on support levels. Collins described the offering as providing agronomy and pathology expertise on demand. In vineyards, he said customers have demonstrated that roughly half of routine fungicide applications can be eliminated, and the data gives agronomists confidence to make those decisions. In one example from New Zealand, savings approached US$500 per hectare for a grower.
The system can also flag when spray programs are not working. Collins cited a vineyard that lost US$1 million in grapes to botrytis as spore levels kept climbing despite repeated treatments. Reviewing the data later, he said, made the warning signs clear, and the operation has since become a major customer.
Lewis Collins: “The simplest way to describe it is a tornado or hurricane watch, but for crop disease.” Image credit: BioScout
Risk management
Convincing growers and advisers to deviate from established spray calendars remains a key challenge. Some customers prefer to maintain frequent treatments to minimize risk. For those users, BioScout positions the platform as a risk management tool rather than purely a spray-reduction solution. Collins compared spore monitoring to irrigation sensing in terms of essential on-farm decision support. He added that the technology could enable greater use of biologicals, which often have narrower application windows and must be timed to a pathogen’s life cycle.
Tornado or hurricane watch… for crop disease
Collins framed the system as akin to a regional severe weather watch for crop disease, giving growers time to act before infections take hold. He noted the company started as his PhD project at the University of Sydney and now employs about 30 people across five continents. All sensors are designed and manufactured by Australian scientists and engineers in Marrickville, New South Wales, and are currently deployed across 15 countries.
Today the company primarily uses AI to identify spores in microscope images. BioScout is now exploring how to combine that with weather, spray records, field observations, and grower notes to better diagnose outbreak drivers and refine recommendations.
Further reading:
- Crop Diagnostix launches RNA-based crop health early-warning system
- Barnwell Bio raises US$6 million to bring COVID-era bio-surveillance playbook to poultry barns
- Micropep files for peptide-based biofungicide approvals