Many agriculture tech start-ups are supported by venture capitalists, who provide crucial investments to develop a company but not every company takes this route. Fargo-based 701x is one such company, which is finding success by tapping into interest from local ranchers and investors, raising $10 million in Series B funding, fueling the company’s global ambitions.
Launched in 2020, 701x offers GPS-enabled, satellite-connected ear tags for cattle connected to a digital farming platform called Xtpro, which comes with the ear tags at no additional charge, Kevin Biffert, CEO and president of 701x, told AgNavigator.
701x’s technology provides cattle traceability, health alerts, and breeding advice, Biffert explained. Currently, 701x is available in the U.S. and Canada with plans to launch in Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Mexico, and UK by the end of the year.
The agtech company will use the Series B funding to complete development of its hardware and software components, including finishing development of its feedlot system and revamping its registry software by combining it with the system it acquired from purchasing Digital Beef in 2024.
Once these software developments are complete, 701x will develop AI functionality that can improve livestock breeding and provide quicker insights on animal genetics, he noted.
“There’s going to be lots of AI things built in once all the data is there, so then you’ll be able to ask it questions [like] ‘Hey, what should I breed these 10 cows to?’ And it’s going to give you a bunch of options,” Biffert elaborated.
Bootstrapping versus VC
Biffert has built his company to this point without the need of venture capital, bootstrapping with $6 million of his own money and retaining roughly 60% ownership in 701x.
However, Biffert has not ruled out venture capital funding entirely and is currently speaking with investors about another round of financing to fuel the start-up’s next growth stage.
“I put $6 million into this thing to get it off the ground, and I didn’t take any capital from anybody, including private individuals or family offices. ... I always want to get something going. I don’t want to have to get money from somebody and explain to them ‘I can’t make it work.’ I want to make it work and then say, ‘Okay, we’re going to take more money and expand this,” he elaborated.
701x was able to scale thanks to word of mouth and software features that demonstrated a return on investment (ROI) for ranchers, Biffert explained. Also, the agtech company took a page out of the tech playbook of Apple, Meta, and the like, by investing in both hardware and software development, he pointed out.
Through these factors and the volume of sales, the agtech company was able to achieve its first month of profitability.
“People are buying the product because they can get multiple ROIs on a single product — whether the bull’s out of the fence, or he’s mounting, or comparing them to other bulls. Those things weren’t all in there, and now we’ve got a lot of the features in there that gives them a better ROI and gives them more information, so that’s why the product is selling more," Biffert added.
