“Almost a restaurant for cows.” How Ukrainian developers are developing a company whose turnover has grown 4 times in two years on an IT solution for animals that love well-cooked food

So that management does not «limp»

Serhiy Ryzhkov, 32, has been in the agricultural sector for about 12 years and over these years has gained expertise in sales, team organization, as well as launching successful business projects and managing projects in IT. While working with Ukrainian farmers, Serhiy and his team saw that their level of automation was not very high.

About 7.5 years ago, while dealing with the problems of feed analysis and selecting the optimal diet for animals, experts saw that management in this area was quite «limping», especially in Ukraine.

And since feed costs, for example, in feeding for the livestock business, make up about 60-70%, Serhiy saw that this issue was of great relevance for both large and small farms. The solutions that existed at that time were either expensive and inconvenient, or farmers simply did not have access to them, and accordingly did not know the basic information.

After talking with top managers of MHP, Yuriy Kosyuk’s agroholding, the startups, according to Serhiy Ryzhkov, decided in their free time to create a system that would monitor whether good «food» was being fed to cows.

And, focusing on consumers in dairy farming, in November 2017 the system was created. The solution testers were farmers familiar to Serhiy, who agreed to be pioneers. The created technology and positive feedback from the farmers who tested it inspired the team to support and optimize the solution further. So the project grew from a hobby into a business.

Later in 2019, the president of the agricultural holding AVA Group, Maksym Shevchuk, a Ukrainian feed producer, also became interested in the development and invested money in the Profeed company.

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Three in one

Currently, there are about 1,300 dairy farms in Ukraine, and according to Serhiy Ryzhkov, only 40% of them have some level of automation. The startup noted that farmers should see the main effect of the Profeed solution in money, or rather, in reducing feed costs. In addition, according to him, any automation and digitalization is aimed at eliminating the human factor and managing the result, which helps agribusinesses develop.

For this reason, Profeed has developed three product modules that control feed consumption by ruminants in dairy production, in particular, cows, sheep, and goats:

• PROFEED Mix is ​​an automated feed management system for preparing and distributing feed on a livestock farm for cattle.
• PROFEED Plant is a system for automating compound feed plants for poultry, pig and cattle farming.
• PROFEED Silo is a system for accounting for the delivery and consumption of feed from non-accumulator silos for poultry and pigs.

The solution consists of a weight sensor that is combined with any feed mixing equipment. Typically, on a farm, this is a large trailer with mixers installed inside that mix and distribute the feed to the cows.

There are other options, for example, in the USA — a stationary mixer, where feed is prepared, and then delivered to the animals using trucks. A sensor installed on the mixer transmits data to a smartphone about the weight of the feed inside, rotation speed, etc. On one medium-sized farm there can be from one to five feed mixers. Profeed sensors are protected from moisture, dust, any stress and physical impact, and also have a warranty of up to 5 years.

However, hardware development, according to Serhiy, is actually quite simple, and «the real deal is in the software.» In particular, a farmer or a technologist plans feeding via a smartphone, which receives data. That is, using the program, he enters the remains, keeps a record, and accordingly marks the groups and species of animals, their location and number. And then, based on the entered data, the farmer establishes optimal rations and recipes for feed mixtures.

The startup notes that in dairy farming, a balanced feed ration is very important, as it affects health and productivity. Depending on the size of the farm, it takes from 20 minutes to install the system, but no more than one working day. And although startups help with the installation and configuration of the system, the founder of Profeed notes that farmers can do everything themselves. According to Serhiy, there are farms that, after implementing automation, increase their profits by 10-20%, or were able to increase milk yield by 4 liters.

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AI and supersensors

Startups are already using artificial intelligence to develop manuals and plan to integrate automated bots for quick response to customers. According to Serhiy, developers will most likely use Google’s service. He explained the choice by the fact that in 2024 Profeed won a grant from Google and now has a credit line and can use their services. «And there is very easy access to specialists who will help us do this,» the founder adds.

In addition, developers have already begun developing boluses for cows. These are unique sensors that monitor health. These sensors are inserted into the cow’s stomach and help measure the pH in the stomach and temperature. First of all, this provides information about the animal’s activity, its health and reproduction, for example, to understand when the cow enters heat and is ready for fertilization. In addition, boluses will allow you to analyze how the feed is digested inside.

«We plan to introduce analytical modules based on artificial intelligence with process forecasts. That is, we will already have enough data to give farmers not just a control system, but even a forecasting system,» the founder adds.

The startups have already developed the housings and electronics for the boluses, and the product is currently undergoing testing.

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Sixth round

For almost 8 years of the startup’s work, Profeed has been developing the sixth generation of the sensor, which is constantly being improved, new features and modems are being added. All changes made have been proposed or agreed with customers. For example, currently, according to the founder, the team is localizing the product for farms in Europe and the USA, and is also adapting the product to modern Ukrainian realities.

«What was our strong point — working online — had to be reworked, because in Ukraine, due to shelling, there are periodic power outages and we have to reconfigure our work to be able to work locally,» says Serhiy Ryzhkov. In addition, he adds that it is also important to take care of data and business protection.

About markets and development

The startups focused their development mostly on Ukraine, where they had a fairly organic development on the Ukrainian market. In 2023, Proffed decided to enter foreign markets with a product for chickens. And in the last year, the startups have been very actively promoting the solution to the US and European markets. Now Profeed has permanent dealers who actively sell the solution to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Moldova. In 2024, the startups opened up the markets of the Netherlands, Belgium and the USA, have already installed more than 10 demo farms there and received the first sales.

«We now have a certain connection from the University of Florida. And, starting in March, we will take part in the US agroaccelerator. All our activities now, in principle, are aimed at quickly entering this market,» the founder noted.

The size of clients can vary greatly. In the Netherlands, the smallest farm has 250 dairy cows, and the largest has 1,200. In Ukraine, the smallest client has 60 cows, and the largest is the agricultural enterprise «Promin» in the Mykolaiv region with 5,000 dairy cows.

In total, Profeed currently has about 400 clients in Ukraine (this is almost 40% of the market). The solutions are already used at the enterprises of MHP, Kernel, «Agrarian Company 2004», «Ekoprod», «Baryshivska Grain Company», «Globynsky Meat and Dairy Complex», «Agrofirma «Mayak», «Barkom», «Ukraine 2001», «Buchachagrokhlibprom» and many others. About 50 companies in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and 3 in Moldova.

Before the full-scale invasion in 2021, the startup was interested in expanding its market to Russia and Belarus, but according to Sergey, after the war began, they cut all ties. «We didn’t have any installations, nothing. We definitely won’t improve the enemy’s farms,» the startuper emphasized.

About the team and participants

Currently, the startup team has 11 people working operationally. In addition, there is a separate independent development team of 8-10 people, with the help of which the startup owners constantly upgrade the solution.

Specialists in the R&D team work on outstaffing and outsourcing terms. Among the key specialists: mobile development, Android, iOS and hardware developer, the R&D team is currently fully staffed and no vacancies are being opened yet. However, there is a possibility that a new person will be recruited for a new project with bolus. «Because now we see that we have already hit the ceiling of our time capabilities,» he explains.

About money

Apart from the grant from Google, there was no direct investment in the startup, according to Serhiy. The company reinvested all the profits in development. In total, about $200,000 of its own funds was invested during the project’s existence. And over the past 2 years, the company’s turnover has grown almost 4 times, including due to exports.

The solution monetization model is currently Profeed selling hardware and a separate software subscription. For current clients in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Moldova, the cost of the solution package, including smartphones, mounts, sensors, training, and integration, is about $3,000. As for the cost for Europe and the US, according to Serhiy, the startup is changing its monetization model and he is not yet ready to announce the final cost.

Currently, Profeed is preparing for an investment round and entry into the US market in 2025. They plan to raise up to $2 million in the Pre-seed round. They plan to spend the money on expanding the functionality of the IT platform, implementing bolis, and conducting marketing campaigns and training programs for farmers in local markets.

About plans and the future

Profeed continues to upgrade the solution and work on its improvement. In particular, they plan to add analytical modules, because according to the wishes of the farmers, to whom Serhiy refers, users not only seek automation, but also want to be able to perform deeper data analysis and integrate with other systems, for example, ERP systems or accounting systems.

In addition, the developers are working on speeding up the installation and are aiming to reduce the 20 minutes to 10 minutes.

The next step at Profeed is to create a universal IT platform that can combine various sensors, not only for feeding, but also for boluses for cows.

In addition, according to the founder, the company has a global goal for 2025 — the start of sales in the USA and the start of active sales in Europe. He is confident that Profeed will definitely take its market share, and this will help the business grow by about 5 times.

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