Halter Scores $100 Million to Expand High-Tech Herding Across U.S. Ranches

Halter, a fast-rising livestock management platform based in New Zealand, just closed a massive $100 million Series D funding round. The raise pushes the company’s valuation to the coveted $1 billion mark, signalling just how bullish investors are on the future of tech-powered farming.

This latest round was led by BOND, the heavyweight tech investor that has previously backed major names like DoorDash and Spotify. NewView Capital joined in as a fresh backer, while several familiar names also re-upped—Bessemer Venture Partners, DCVC, Blackbird, Icehouse Ventures, and Promus Ventures.

So what’s driving all this interest?

At the heart of Halter’s offering is a virtual fencing system that’s as clever as it is practical. Each cow wears a solar-powered smart collar, and nearby towers keep them connected. Instead of traditional fences, ranchers use vibrations and sound cues to guide their herds. Everything can be tracked and managed right from a smartphone, making it easier to oversee grazing patterns and reduce the labour needed for day-to-day operations.

“Halter ranchers are more profitable and get better outcomes for the environment and their animals,” said company CEO and founder Craig Piggott. “Halter ranchers increase productivity through rotational grazing, increased carrying capacity, and reduced workload – while improving soil health and regenerative land management,”

Founded in 2016, Halter has already made strong inroads in New Zealand and Australia. But its sights are now firmly set on the US. The new funds will accelerate the company’s expansion across the country, where it’s already working with about 150 ranchers spread across 18 states.

CEO Craig Piggott points out that the system couldn’t be arriving at a better time. Labor shortages continue to plague ranches across the US, worsened in recent years by shifting immigration policies. At the same time, the average age of farmers keeps rising, and fewer members of the next generation are stepping in to fill the gap.

With this funding, Halter plans to scale faster and make its virtual fencing tech more accessible across the American heartland, offering a potential lifeline to ranchers looking for efficiency, sustainability, and a bit of futuristic thinking to help weather the challenges ahead.

“Over half of US ranchers and farmers are over 55, and rural labor shortages are severe,” he said. “Halter enables smaller teams to manage herds more efficiently, without constant physical presence.”

Cattle is, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, “the most important U.S. agricultural industry, consistently accounting for the largest share of total cash receipts for agricultural commodities.”

The US remains the world’s largest producer of beef as well as the world’s largest consumer of it.

“Cattle-based products generate over $1 trillion annually,” Daegwon Chae, General Partner at BOND., noted in a statement. “Ranches feed billions of people but are constrained by traditional bottlenecks of the offline economy – labor, time, and limited automation. Halter’s vision is ambitious and impactful, to build the digital operating system for farms and ranches globally, leveraging the cutting-edge of physically-enabled technology.”