Farmflo is a farm management software system founded by two brothers from Donegal. Jason Devenney is a software engineer and Gareth Devenney is a tillage and sheep farmer. But what exactly does it do?

Farmflo was designed by farmers for farmers – it provides them with a way to record information for their compliance and traceability reporting. Brendan Byrne, an area manager in the company, says Farmflo helps improve productivity and profitability.

“When you get information, you can make an informed decision based on accurate real-time data. You can set up your farm on an online cloud and access it no matter where you are.”

Apparently, good savings can be made by doing something like a proper fertiliser plan.

“Use the app to record planting, what field it’s gone into and what time/date it went in,” says Brendan.

“The fertiliser is recorded instantaneously – and it’s backed up to the cloud.

“Farmers can see what has gone on to the field and how much it cost. Farmflo covers duplication of information and it covers compliance – department inspectors are also happy to access this information via a cloud.

“Then you’ve all the other benefits,” continues Brendan, “such as cost per hectare. Farmflo covers a whole farm – even if it is a mixed enterprise.”

It’s not just Brendan’s word that serves as testament to the quality of the product – in 2014, Farmflo was named best agriculture software start-up at the innovation awards at the National Ploughing Championships.

Employment

Farmflo has offices in Letterkenny and Glasgow. There are currently 12 people working for the company in Ireland and there’s another six in the UK. This number will be at least 52 by the same time next year as Farmflo is planning to recruit 40 people in total in 2016. Many of these positions will be in the area of R&D, but Farmflo is also looking for farm advisers, customer support staff and the company is starting to build a management team.

Farmflo will soon announce that a senior position within the company has been filled by someone quite well-known in the industry. While Farmflo wants to build a customer support function in Ireland, it is expecting to open an R&D centre in Scotland in the near future. In fact, 20 of the 40 positions being created next year will be in the UK. Scotland is the chosen hub in the UK, according to Jason Devenney, because it is quite close to Ireland – it’s an easy flight across to Donegal and it’s a big agricultural centre too.

Jason says it’s important that employees come from a farming background.

“People coming into the business have to understand farming. They have to understand the difficulties and challenges farmers face. It’s important we get the right people with the right skills.”

But Jason says this can prove to be a challenge. “In the technology space it’s very competitive at the moment.” He notes that people mightn’t necessarily want to move to somewhere like Donegal unless they’re from there originally and are interested in moving back.

“A lot of people tend to study in the major cities. People finish university – they go into jobs in the big banks and media centres.”

Microsoft Accelerator programme

A big boost to Farmflo earlier this year was the news that the company had been selected to be a participant in Microsoft’s venture accelerator programme. This is a global initiative which supports a small group of high potential start-ups.

“375 companies applied for it and we were one of seven selected,” explains Jason. As part of the programme, Farmflo will receive one-on-one mentoring from Microsoft’s business, technology and marketing experts, as well as being given access to Microsoft services such as Azure Cloud – the company’s cloud computing platform and infrastructure – which is worth about €675,000 to the Irish start-up over the next three years. “This is a fantastic opportunity for Farmflo and it’s humbling that a tech giant such as Microsoft is getting behind us,” says Jason Davanney. The Microsoft venture accelerator programme also has dedicated hubs in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin, Paris, Seattle and Tel Aviv.

Farmflo has received assistance also from the UCD Innovation Academy to help get the business off the ground. The Postgraduate Certificate in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise is awarded by UCD and is an 18-week part-time course (two full days a week) offered in multiple locations around Ireland.

The course is free for eligible job seekers via the Higher Education Authority Springboard Plus initiative. Professor Suzi Jarvis, founding director of UCD’s Innovation Academy, says the focus of the course is to encourage creative thinking and increase people’s capacity for innovation within their careers or with their business ideas.”

Brendan Byrne attended the Innovation Academy on behalf of Farmflo. “It was a fantastic opportunity. It’s a great way to network with like-minded people. And we were receiving lectures from people who teach in international business schools. I was able to research an area on behalf of Farmflo and myself. One of the key things I learned through the Innovation Academy is to define the process – the steps as to how to research an area. There’s no market for one third of products produced; people are not really interested in what you do, they are interested in the benefit. Farmflo has a benefit in that it helps you grow more with less.”

Innovation Academy participants join a class of approximately 30 students of all ages and backgrounds. Over 18 weeks they work on a series of challenges and projects – large and small, addressing real-world problems and opportunities, while learning to apply creative and entrepreneurial tools including design thinking, business model canvas and customer discovery.

Students design and test new ideas and meet experienced entrepreneurs and leaders from all sectors to hear their advice and insights. Register your interest for courses starting from January 2016 in Dublin and Kilkenny. To be eligible for this course under the HEA Springboard programme, you must have a previous history of employment, be currently unemployed, and satisfy the criteria which is outlined at www.innovators.ie.