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| | Rather than the circular PVC tube employed in its predecessors, the AquaSpy utilised a “D” profile tube. The original intention was for the components on the PCB to sit against the flat edge of the D, allowing the sensors to curl out against the rounded section. A quick modification was soon carried out – adding a former to hold the PCB in the correct position with the sensor elements hard up against the inside of the tube. Like the Series 3, the Series 4 probe relies on a slurry installation into an over-sized hole. | | Rather than the circular PVC tube employed in its predecessors, the AquaSpy utilised a “D” profile tube. The original intention was for the components on the PCB to sit against the flat edge of the D, allowing the sensors to curl out against the rounded section. A quick modification was soon carried out – adding a former to hold the PCB in the correct position with the sensor elements hard up against the inside of the tube. Like the Series 3, the Series 4 probe relies on a slurry installation into an over-sized hole. |
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| − | ==Venture Capital History==
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| − | As the pioneer of capacitance soil moisture probes, Sentek had high hopes for growth of the market sector. The company's sales came almost exclusively from early adopters - those innovative growers who constantly sought out ways to improve their profitability and crop quality. Sentek believed that they could drive the product down to the rest of the market. In doing so, year on year sales would double and double again. For their own marketing purposes and for the benefit of their investors, Sentek encapsulated these predictions in a set of exponential growth curves. These curves became a key component in Robinson's business plans for Agrilink and were soon wheeled out in presentations to potential venture capital partners.
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| − | ===Round 1 Capital===
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| − | After taking on the Adcon distributorship in 1997, the company needed cash to begin rolling out weather stations. Robinson pitched to a group of local investors - his first foray into venture capital. A number of local Adelaide identities contributed $20,000 or so each. One of the investors later became the company's finance officer.
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| − | The capital enabled the company to relocate to larger premises in Hilton and to expand staff numbers. First, a new receptionist, then a group of three technical officers and two more trainee agronomists were hired.
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| − | ===Round 2 - Gresham Rabo===
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| − | Gresham Rabo Management is a venture capital firm with the backing of Rabo Bank. Gresham became the first institutional investor in Agrilink with the investment of $2m AUD in 2000 <ref>[http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/51858/funding_helps_agrilink_weather_expansion?relcomp=1 Computerworld 5th June 2001]</ref>. This money was used to fund expansion of the company in Australia and to launch operations in the USA. Company offices were opened in New South Wales and Queensland and in the Riverland in South Australia. Peter Moller's Agrilink Water Management was purchased by Agrilink Holdings and Moller was shipped to the US. Mollers role there was to build the US operation and offer agronomic consultancy. In a strange twist, the C-Probe Corporation had signed over rights to its products in the USA to Adcon's US office, so the new Agrilink International had to purchase probes from them.
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| − | ===Round 3 - PWR Investments===
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| − | The expansion of the Australian Rules Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League) to open it up to teams from outside the state of Victoria, led to the formation of an investment group to enter a South Australian team - Port Power. Some of the investors connected to the team, set up a venture capital fund called the PWR Investments. After waiting in the wings while Gresham Rabo did their analysis, PWR Investments followed with a further $0.5m AUD <ref>[http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/51858/funding_helps_agrilink_weather_expansion?relcomp=1 Computerworld 5th June 2001]</ref>.
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| − | Round 4 - Nanyang Ventures
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| − | In June 2001, Nanyang Ventures, a venture capital fund operated by St George Bank provided the next round of capital. Their $4m investment gave them a 20% share in the company. The money from Nanyang would be used to expand the company's operations in California, "formed through a strategic channel partner Adcon Technology which contracts Agrilink to provide specialist irrigation technology and services to distributors and customers" <ref>[http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/51858/funding_helps_agrilink_weather_expansion?relcomp=1 Computerworld 5th June 2001]</ref>. After conquering California, the company would target other states in North America, then South America and Europe. In 2002 Agrilink opened an office in Florida <ref>[http://www.ultimatecitrus.com/aquaspy/Save_Money_and_Make_Money.html Ultimate Citrus 17th May 2002]</ref>. Before long staff numbers reached 50 employees.
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| − | Nanyang's investment is interesting for a number of reasons. The first of which is that the investment analysis was headed by Chris Golis, who had written the first serious text book on venture capital in Australia. The second is that the methodology used by Nanyang was developed by Hewlett Packard in the USA. The methodology sets out a number of criteria for investment, the first of which is that the company must have made 4 successive quarters of profit. To that date (and for a long time after) the company however had not made a single quarter of profit but Golis and his compatriots allowed the golden rule to be over-ridden.
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| − | The business model which so attracted Nanyang had metamorphised around the Internet. The new Agrilink would become a services based company, making money by renting equipment to growers and charging them fees to maintain it and provide the data. This new model needed a new data delivery model, one that could make data available over the Internet. And so AgWise was born.
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| − | ===Round 5 - Colonial First State===
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| − | The company's success in winning capital from Gresham Rabo and Nanyang gave it a high profile which in turn resulted in the company picking up the 2001 Austrade Emerging Exporter Award and the Playford Capital Award at the 2002 Business SA Export Awards (Woithe, 2002). Then, in September 2002, Colonial First State Private Equity provided another $3.2m. In making their early stage investment, Colonial made much of Agrilink's "proven product (with a strong value proposition), a large global market and established distributors in the USA" <ref>[http://www.cfsgam.com.au/uploadedFiles/DPEF/Update/DPEF_News_Sep_02.pdf Colonial First State Private Equity, News September 2002]</ref>.
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| − | Although the elusive growth curve had yet failed to materialise, Colonial joined the ever growing list of companies willing to get on board. The plaudits continued to roll in too, with Agrilink making it in to the 2002 Deloitte & Touche list of 50 fastest growing companies <ref>[http://www.ultimatecitrus.com/aquaspy/News/Naples_Daily_News.html Ultimate Citrus News, 4th November 2002]</ref>. The trio of senior managers - Chief Executive Officer - Nigel Robinson, Chief Financial Officer - Craig Gooden and Chief Agronomic Officer - Peter Moller, were convinced they were on a sure thing. Yet even in 2002 the company was still spending cash faster than it could earn it. Surely the oft predicted growth curve would kick in any day now?
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| − | ===Round 6 - SAM Private Equity, Run & Playford ===
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| − | The initial success of Agrilink - and to a degree Sentek - came form reaching the innovators and early adopters in the vineyard market. This was during a period of massive expansion in the Australian wine industry. The large corporate vineyards were cashed up and happy to spend on new technology to gvie them an edge. The failure to attract the next tier of growers was listed as a feature rather than a failing when SAM Private Equity provided the next round of funding. According to SAM, "the markets Agrilink is operating in are still in the early stages of development but are expected to grow dramatically over the years to come as a result of the trend toward precision farming, crop management and more efficient water use. Users of Agrilink’s products and services are often early adopters and innovative farmers" <ref>[http://www.sam-group.com/downloads/priveq/press/PE_031231_Agrilink.pdf SAM Private Equity 10th December 2003]</ref>. SAM were convinced enough that the turning point was just around the corner, to invest $3.5million with Agrilink.
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| − | The $3.5m from SAM of Zurich was topped up with $500,000 from Run Pty Ltd and $1m from Playford Capital. This brought total investment in the company to date to $19m but 2002-2003 revenue of only $4.8m. Run was operated by John Plummer, whose family had made its money through the Chandler Macleod human resources consultancy firm.
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| − | ===Round 7 - Wheb Ventures===
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| − | Wheb Ventures is a venture capital fund with links to the UK's Goldsmith family. The fund targets investment in "early stage clean technology companies which have global market applications" <ref>[http://www.whebventures.co.uk/news/story_11.htm WHEB Ventures, News 2005]</ref>. Wheb founder Rob Wylie was appointed to the Agrilink Board at the time the investment was made. John Blackmore, former CEO of the Murray Darling Basin Commission joined the board at the same time. The new investment made Wheb a major shareholder along with "SAM Private Equity (SAM), a leading clean technology venture fund, and its related listed investment company Sustainable Performance Group (SPG), and Run Pty Ltd, an Australian investor" (ibid).
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| − | With the Wheb investment, Agrilink re-focused on broader environmental monitoring. The AgWise platform on which they relied for data display was however designed around display of soil moisture and weather data. Adding new types of sensors for flow, level etc proved difficult and time consuming. The environmental monitoring sector although on the surface attractive, proved very conservative – choosing to stay with the traditional approach of high end data loggers with dial up GSM communications.
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| − | ===Round 8 - Espirito Santo Ventures===
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| − | In April 2007 Espirito Santo Ventures of Portugal became the next major investor in Agrilink. Espirito Santo placed $2.5m with Agrilink and the Centre for Energy and Greenhouse Technologies (CEGT) $1m <ref>[http://www.es-ventures.com/news.php?idPai=8 Espirotos Santos Ventures,17th April 2007]</ref>. A further $4m AUD came from existing investors.
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| − | CEGT must have believed that Agrilink had potential to develop the “new sustainable energy and greenhouse gas reductions technologies” that CEGT invests in (ibid). High growth potential features as one reason for Espirito Santo’s investment, particularly as at this time Agrilink had negotiated a $1m plus deal with Monsanto in the USA.
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| − | Then CEO, Nigel Hennessey stated that the new capital would “allow the company to expand its interests in biotechnology and agriculture business in the US, as well as in the rapidly expanding global golf and commercial turf marketplace” (ibid). At this time, Hennessey also held high hopes for expansion of the GolfLinx franchise, claiming that “GolfLinx's turf products would create significant savings on water usage of approximately 2 Olympic swimming pools per week” – a saving of 30% in water use <ref>[http://www.whebventures.co.uk/news/story_13.htm WHEB Ventures, News 2007]</ref>.
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| − | The company’s recognition continued to grow, with Agrilink in 2007 receiving the Electronics Industry Association (EIA) Gold Cup for Excellence in Engineering and Commercialisation <ref>[http://www.eicta.asn.au/news/media-activity/clever-water-device-attracts-gold EICTA 2nd November 2007]</ref>. The award is given to the company that is best “in taking an innovative idea successfully through product development and manufacturing to national and global markets” (ibid). Shortly after the award, Agrilink launched its new identity – re-branding as the AquaSpy Group. Obviously success in innovation did not include building the worth of the brand name.
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| − | ===Round 9 - Sustainable Performance Group===
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| − | Maybe it was the EIA recognition that attracted Sustainable Products Group to invest $5m in the newly created AquaSpy Group. SPG have extensive interests in the sustainable and renewable energy sector (Vestas, Canadian Hydro Developers), the water industry (KSB and Toro) and in pharmaceuticals (Johnson & Johnson). Among their portfolio is a holding in private company AquaSpy <ref>[http://www.zukunftsaktie.ch/htmle/IR/beteiligungen.cfm SPG Holdings - United Companies, July 2009]</ref>. In 2008, SPG reported a 2.5% return on their AquaSpy holding.
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| − | ===Round 10 - Espirito Santo, WHEB, Run SPG===
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| − | Espirito Santo, Wheb, Run and SPG together injected more funds in early 2009. This coincided with the departure of CEO Nigel Hennessey and his replacement with former DriveCam CEO, Bruce Moeller. In his biography, Moeller refers to himself as a serial fundraising entrepreneur.
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| − | Under Moeller’s reign staff numbers were dramatically cut and measures put in place to relocate the company to a new base in the USA. If the company were ever to reach its ultimate goal, it could not be done going cap in hand to the investment community each year. The next round of capital had to be big – Moeller had won $28m USD in funding for DriveCam <ref>[http://www.inc.com/magazine/20070701/twiw-moeller.html, The Way I Work, Bruce Moeller, July 2007]</ref> – a feat which was to win him the 2006 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award - and was keen to give AquaSpy the same sort of boost.
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| − | With the announcement of Moeller’s appointment the company boasted that the “Group’s golf and high performance turf division GolfLinx has a growing customer base in the golfing and sports turf sectors in the US and Australia” <ref>[http://www.pitchcare.com.au/magazine/article/917 Pitchcare Magazine, 26th February 2009]</ref>. Within six months the division was closed down.
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