Agscent, an NSW-based agtech, is digitising the sense of smell and has closed a $5 million round valuing it at $26.9 million, up from $11.5 million two years ago. The funding was backed by agrifood-tech venture capital firm Tundra Capital, impact investor Scale Investors, and a group of individual investors, including farmers.

Founded by behavioural scientist Bronwyn Darlington, the company uses AI to "map the chemistry of scent," turning breath samples into diagnostic data. Its entry point is cattle: a handheld bag placed over a cow's nostril for 10 seconds detects pregnancy at 18 days after insemination, versus roughly 40 days for the standard method of manual rectal palpation. The three-week head start lets farmers re-inseminate sooner, which can be a meaningful productivity gain.

The tech is built on a NASA "electronic nose" originally used to monitor astronaut health on the ISS. Agscent holds a global NASA licence for animal and agricultural use, plus a proof-of-concept licence for human medical applications spanning disease detection, law enforcement and industrial monitoring.

Its big validation is a trial with Dairy Farmers of America, a cooperative representing more than 11,000 dairy farmers. A second DFA trial later this year will train the sensors to detect bovine respiratory disease. Agscent plans to begin manufacturing handheld devices in 2026.