Sophora Unternehmerkapital acquires shares and becomes significant minority shareholder / Strong growth course to be continued / Expansion of technology leadership targeted

The Austrian AgriTech company smaXtec animal care GmbH (“smaXtec”) strengthens its shareholder base and gains Sophora Unternehmerkapital (“Sophora”) as a partner. Sophora, a Munich-based owner-managed investment company with a focus on B2B business models, is supporting smaXtec’s further strong growth course and the targeted expansion of its technology leadership in the understanding of dairy cows through sensor-based early detection in the areas of animal health, reproduction and feeding management.

smaXtec, headquartered in Graz, Austria, is an established and rapidly growing technology company with circa 150 employees at sites in Austria, USA, Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK, focusing on the digitization of the dairy industry. The innovative health system for dairy cows, offered as Software-as-a-Service, sets new standards based on the highly precise (in-vivo) measurement and AI-supported analysis of relevant health parameters such as body temperature, rumination, movement activity or drinking behaviour.

“smaXtec is on a great path and aims to double the number of “cows under monitoring” again this year. Our growth continues to thrive in all countries, including the US, the largest dairy market in the world, where we have established regional offices to ensure optimal support”, says Dr. Stefan Scherer, CEO of smaXtec. “We have been in close contact with Sophora for some time and are very pleased that we were able to win an experienced partner who, in addition to competencies in the field of value creation, also brings a valuable network to optimally support us in continuing our success story.”

“We are very much looking forward to the future cooperation and believe that smaXtec brings all the prerequisites to take the digitization of the dairy industry to the next level”, says Benjamin Hubner, Managing Partner at Sophora. “The impressive development smaXtec has undergone so far provides a strong foundation for further international growth and we are confident that the company will continue to inspire with its disruptive technology in the future.”

Sophora was advised by POELLATH + Partners and attorney Dr. Stefan Gurmann.

Partnership to continue the strong growth trajectory: smaXtec CEO Dr Stefan Scherer (right) together with Sophora Managing Partner Benjamin Hubner (left)

About smaXtec
smaXtec is an Austrian AgriTech company that develops innovative solutions for the monitoring of dairy cows. The company has developed a unique technology platform that enables real-time monitoring and analysis of the health and well-being of cows. For this purpose, sensors inserted in the stomach are used to collect a variety of data and send it to a cloud server, where it is analysed. The gathered information helps livestock owners improve animal welfare, optimize feed consumption, and detect diseases early, resulting in higher yields and better animal health.

smaXtec is the winner of numerous awards such as the Styrian Export Award 2022 (category “Medium-Sized Enterprise”), the EY Scale-Up Award 2022 (category “Green Tech & Energy”), the SPIRIT Start-up Award 2023 in the category “Scale-ups” or the Royal Dairy Innovation Award 2023.
www.smaxtec.com

About Sophora
Sophora Unternehmerkapital (“Sophora”), based in Munich, is an independent and owner-managed investment company with a focus on medium-sized companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Sophora consists of an interdisciplinary team of entrepreneurs with many years of experience in the investment business and as founders and Managing Directors of companies. As a value-creating partner of entrepreneurs and management teams of medium-sized companies, Sophora provides strategic and operational know-how as well as a comprehensive network of experts and flexible capital in order to jointly discover and develop potentials. Sophora is a signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (“PRI”) and the Women’s Empowerment Principles (“WEPs”).
www.sophora.de