Punakaiki Fund Invests in Agtract
26th of July 2016
Taranaki rural job management software Agtract has closed a funding round with high-growth investor Punakaiki Fund.
The Agtract software drastically reduces the time it takes for rural contractors to do management tasks and create
invoices, saving them up to a week’s work each month.
“Agtract does the administrative grunt work so rural contractors can do what they do best: helping farmers,” says CEO
Chris West, who co-founded Agtract with his brother James after feeling the pain first hand of having to do admin work
for a rural contractor.
“I was an employee of a contractor in Taranaki and had to fill in job sheet after job sheet. So much of what I did was
repetitive, and even more of what the contractor did could’ve been automated. I created an early software solution, saw
that it saved time and money, and realised I was onto a winner. Agtract is the result.”
The cloud-based software is integrated to Xero and can be used on any device. It makes it easy for rural contractors to
do their invoicing on the go with a tablet or smartphone, even in the comfort of their own tractor.
“I never thought I'd be doing work for the agricultural industry, but this is a game-changing product,” says Chief
Technical Officer James West.
“Time truly is money in the busy season, and Agtract will save contractors hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars a
year.”
The software has been in a trial phase before it launches at the end of September. Feedback from early customers has
been overwhelmingly positive.
“We absolutely need this software. Being able to easily invoice our customers once the job is done without having to
chase down worksheets or risk not recording all of the time on the job is a real benefit. It saves us both time and
money,” says Jared McBride from Taranaki firm JFM Contracting.
And it’s clear the startup has more than just the confidence of its customers, having secured investment from
high-growth investor Punakaiki Fund.
“Punakaiki Fund’s investment is an incredible show of faith,” says Chris West.
“The fund is one of New Zealand’s highest performing so to have its weight behind us is worth far more than just the
money. We also have Chris Humphreys from Punakaiki Fund joining our Board of Directors. He’ll bring his wealth of
expertise – including as a former contractor employee - to the table.”
Chris West will be travelling throughout the country over coming months to meet with contractors who are eager to get
rid of their mountain of paperwork on onto the smarter solution that is Agtract.
ENDS