CropLogic hires Novus Capital for $A5 - $A8m IPO prior to ASX listing

CropLogic, a Christchurch-based developer of technology that allows farmers to more accurately control inputs such as fertiliser and water, plans to raise $A5 to $A8 million in an initial public offering and list on the ASX.

The company, which is currently raising $A3 million in a pre-IPO round, says it hired Sydney-based Novus Capital to lead manage the IPO. CropLogic's biggest shareholder is Christchurch-based, ASX-listed technology incubator Powerhouse Ventures, with about 43 percent, while government-owned NZVIF Investment holds about 17 percent.

CropLogic's software models plant growth by gathering field data and making crop prescriptions and management recommendations. The company was incorporated in 2010 when it licensed the intellectual property for its software from the NZ Institute for Plant and Food Research, which had done 25 years of plant model research.

CropLogic first flagged plans to list on the ASX in July last year, when it retained Perth-based Ventnor Capital as corporate adviser.

The company said in a statement that it has completed successful trials of its system with potatoes in China, the US, Australia and New Zealand with PepsiCo, Lamb Weston, Simplot and McCain Foods. A full commercial roll out to the potato industry is currently in process, it said. The company is about to start trials on onions, corn, wheat, soybean and cotton.

Last year, the company agreed to acquire a US-based agronomy services company.

In 2015, CropLogic was one of seven startups to get a $450,000 repayable grant from Callaghan Innovation, which it used to develop aerial imaging technology. The grants are scheduled to be repaid when the company begins to make sales, limited to 3 percent of Croplogic's total revenue per year.

Powerhouse Ventures raised $A10.2 million in an initial public offering last October selling 9.5 million shares at $A1.07 and $NZ1.25 million of convertible notes prior to listing on the ASX. They last traded at 78 Australian cents.

(BusinessDesk receives some funding from Callaghan Innovation to cover the commercialisation of innovation).