SomaDetect, an AgriTech company based inFredericton, received a $250,000 investment from the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation according to a statement from NBIF on Monday. It did not say whether this investment was a part of a larger funding round for the company.

SomaDetect provides dairy farms with hardware and software that can scan a cows milk and provide instant data regarding her health. Currently, farmers rely on monthly data to make management decisions. With SomaDetect, farmers have access to daily measurements for every cow.

Its patented technology uses a laser to scan the fat content and somatic cell count of raw milk. This process can detect mastitis an udder disease as well as measure the milk’s quality.

The company’s technology has been piloted in New Brunswick and in March it expanded its offices to Buffalo, NY.

“Starting our company in New Brunswick has been critical for us,” said CEO Bethany Deshpande in a statement. “We are incredibly thankful for the support we have received from our dairy farming community and from the startup community of this province, including NBIF, Milk2020, the Pond-Deshpande Centre (no family relation), and The Ville Cooperative.”

SomaDetect, which completed the Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) Sprint Accelerator in Kansas City, has also racked up quite the list of accolades. It won the Most Innovative Startup award at the 2018 KIRA Awards in May, was selected as $1million grand prize at the 43North competition in Buffalo, and was the second-place winner for the 2017 NBIF Breakthru competition.   

“We’re incredibly proud to support SomaDetect, especially given their user-centric design approach. They used a true lean start-up model approach, where they went around to farmers first to solicit interest and continue to work closely with members of the dairy industry to ensure maximum value”, said the NBIF Director of Investments Raymond Fitzpatrick.