Farm software company, Herdwatch, has announced the acquisition of Kingswood Computing which provides herd management and accounting software to farmers and agribusinesses.
Herdwatch expects the acquisition to grow its customer base, which will result in more than a third of Irish dairy farmers using the platform.
Kingswood was founded over 35 years ago by Gerry and Nora Lynskey. It was the first Irish farm software provider, attracting a client base of over 5,000 farmers, with a particular focus on dairy operations and a wide range of solutions such as Kingswood Herd, VetLink, farm accounts, as well as Kingswood Mobile, a field app and a billing app for farm contractors.
Mr Lynskey said Herdwatch is a great fit with Kingswood. "Really this is the perfect match for our businesses and our customers and I'm really excited to see how the larger business evolves and thrives, delivering even better service for farmers in Ireland and far beyond," he said.
Fabien Peyaud, CEO Herdwatch said Gerry Lynskey has been a pioneer in the agtech field, and his innovative leadership resulted in some of the earliest tech solutions for farmers. "For this reason, we are proud that Herdwatch is the new home for Kingswood's great products, dedicated team, and thousands of loyal customers, and look forward to taking them and their legacy to the next level within the Herdwatch platform."
Based in Tipperary, Herdwatch was co-founded by Fabien Peyaud and Farm Relief Services Network in 2012. It provides software to over 20,000 farms, including dairy, beef and suckler farmers as well as sheep farmers with their Flockwatch solution, which is now available in over 170 countries. It plans to launch its cattle solution globally by the end of the year.
The company recently announced its acquisition of Farmplan’s livestock software customers in the UK and it also secured a multi-million investment led by Renatus Capital Partners, backed by the Irish Strategic Investment Fund six months ago.
The deal will see Kingswood employees join Herdwatch’s team of more than 60 people. There are no changes for Kingswood customers in Ireland and the UK, who will be able to continue using their existing software products and get full support from the Kingswood team.
