GoKawiilFounders Fund has made its name backing what Peter Thiel calls “zero to one” companies — businesses that don’t just improve on existing ideas but create something entirely new. Its portfolio includes Facebook, SpaceX, and Palantir. Its latest bet is a New Zealand startup that puts solar-powered smart collars on cows.
Halter, which closed a $220 million Series E at a $2 billion valuation last month, with Founders Fund leading the round, isn’t the kind of company that tends to dominate technology headlines. There is no agentic AI involved, no humanoid robots. There is, however, a very large and largely unsolved problem: How do you manage cattle spread across some of the most remote terrain on earth, without dogs, horses, motorbikes, or helicopters?
Craig Piggott, Halter’s 30-year-old founder and CEO, has spent nine years working on an answer. “If you manage a pasture-based farm, whether it’s dairy or beef, the most important variable is how you manage the productivity of your land,” Piggott told TechCrunch in a recent interview. “Fences are the lever — they control where animals graze and how you rest the land. Being able to do that virtually just made a lot of sense.”
The system Halter has built combines a solar-powered collar, a network of low-frequency towers, and a smartphone app to let farmers create virtual fences, monitor every animal around the clock, and move their herds without ever leaving the farmhouse. Cattle are trained to respond to audio and vibration cues from the collar — a process Piggott that likens to the way a car beeps as it approaches a wall while parking. Most animals, he says, learn within three interactions with a virtual fence. “Then you’re able to guide them and shift them around on sound and vibration alone.”
The collar does more than herd. Because it is always on and collecting behavioral data, it also tracks animal health, monitors fertility cycles, and flags when individual animals may be sick, capabilities that Piggott says have improved dramatically as Halter has accumulated what is likely the world’s largest dataset of cattle behavior. The company is now on its fifth generation of hardware, and its reproduction product is currently in beta with U.S. customers.
“The product that ranchers use today is radically different to what they bought a year ago,” Piggott said. “Every week, we’re releasing new things to our customers.”
Piggott grew up on a dairy farm in New Zealand before studying engineering and landing a brief stint at Rocket Lab, the rocket company that gave him his first glimpse of what a technology startup could be. “Rocket Lab was kind of my introduction to technology and startups and the world of venture capital,” he said. “Realizing you could raise money, hire a team, and chase an ambitious mission was inspiring. I wanted to do that in agriculture.” He started Halter at 21. “Probably a bit naive in hindsight,” he acknowledged, “but that was fine.”
Techcrunch event Disrupt 2026: The tech ecosystem, all in one room Your next round. Your next hire. Your next breakout opportunity. Find it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech leaders gather for three days of 250+ tactical sessions, powerful introductions, and market-defining innovation. Register now to save up to $400. Save up to $300 or 30% to TechCrunch Founder Summit 1,000+ founders and investors come together at TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 for a full day focused on growth, execution, and real-world scaling. Learn from founders and investors who have shaped the industry. Connect with peers navigating similar growth stages. Walk away with tactics you can apply immediately
Offer ends March 13. San Francisco, CA | REGISTER NOW
... continue reading