A spin-out of TU Dublin, this agritech start-up wants to enable faster, smarter animal health decisions through rapid diagnostics and data analytics.
When it comes to animal health, keeping an eye out for parasites is of utmost importance.
Parasites can latch onto our furry friends both internally and externally, and regular checks are highly recommended by veterinarians. Tests for parasites usually involve examining faecal samples from the affected animal and can take a few days to get back results.
For example, one such test known as the Baermann technique can take up to two or three days to yield results. However, one company has devised a method for testing that can turn the wait for results from days into minutes.
Enter our Start-up of the Week, Micron Agritech.
Founded in 2019 and launched in 2022, this Dublin-based start-up wants to enable faster, smarter animal health decisions through rapid diagnostics and data analytics. Its main product is the Micron Kit, which lets vets test for parasites in livestock and horses from anywhere using an AI-powered app.
According to co-founder and CEO Daniel Izquierdo Hijazi, this testing kit “reduces reliance on the traditional 100-year-old method and unnecessary treatments”.
“Think 10 minutes for results versus five days,” he says. “With our data platform, we provide industry-wide insights to improve animal health, sustainability and animal performance.”
How it started
Prior to founding Micron Agritech, Hijazi had founded two previous start-ups. Armed with this entrepreneurial experience, Hijazi teamed up with R&D director Tara McElligott and commercial director Sean Smith to bring Micron Agritech to life.
With all three co-founders having formal education in product design, the team’s approach is “fundamentally based” on ensuring they produce tools that are designed with the veterinarian and patient in mind from day one, according to Hijazi.
While the start-up’s testing kit is currently enabled for livestock and equine testing, Hijazi says they are close to releasing their pet testing kit.
“The veterinary industry is quickly evolving with a shift towards preventative patient care from the historic reactionary approach,” explains Hijazi. “At the same time, practices tend to be spread quite thin.
“With billions of animals globally, our platform presents a huge opportunity to transform how animal health data is collected and used.”
How it works
As Hijazi explains to SiliconRepublic.com, Micron’s technology combines AI-powered diagnostics with a mobile-first approach, “making parasite detection faster, more accurate and widely accessible”.
“Traditionally, parasite eggs in faecal samples have been identified manually by lab technicians, using the same microscopy-based method for nearly 100 years,” he says. “We’ve automated this process using a transformer-based AI model, which rapidly scans and detects parasite eggs with high precision.”
By providing real-time analytics, the start-up’s platform allows veterinarians to track parasite trends, generate client-specific reports and create personalised pasture management and parasite control plans. “By integrating AI, mobile technology and big data, we are redefining how animal health diagnostics are performed,” says Hijazi.
How it’s going
“Building Micron Agritech has been an exciting but challenging journey,” says Hijazi. “Our system requires mastery over three difficult disciplines – hardware, software and microbiology. Scaling hardware manufacturing was an important hurdle. Educating the market and driving adoption in a conservative industry also took time, as vets and farmers have relied on the same methods for decades.”
Despite these challenges, Micron Agritech has seen considerable amounts of success.
In 2022, it won the best start-up prize at Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation Arena Awards.
A year later, the company raised €2.7m in funding to expand across the Irish and UK markets.
According to Hijazi, the start-up has tested more than 300,000 animals since its 2022 launch, with more than 30pc of large animal vets in Ireland using its system. In the near future, Micron is planning a launch in France through a partnership with Dopharma.
“Animal health is a rapidly evolving space, the sector is rich in new technologies,” says Hijazi. “The key is how you ensure the product is truly sector changing as opposed to being a marginal improvement.
“It’s not enough to simply nudge the needle – we want to shatter the gauge.”
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