Kieran Supple — Reap Interactive
Reap Interactive is an Irish AgTech company based in Boyle, Co. Roscommon, developing precision livestock intelligence technology that continuously
Reap Interactive is an Irish AgTech company based in Boyle, Co. Roscommon, developing precision livestock intelligence technology that continuously monitors individual animal performance, health and behaviour. The company was originally established in 2021, with development accelerating significantly from 2022 when I moved full-time into the business. The idea came from combining my background in technology and data with my own experience in beef farming and seeing first-hand the lack of continuous, individual animal data available to farmers.
Key issues or challenges experienced during the start-up process
Like many technology start-ups, the key challenges were taking an idea from concept through R&D and validation to a commercially viable product, while simultaneously securing funding, building the right team, protecting our IP and validating that the technology solved a genuine industry problem.
How you addressed these challenges
We approached the development in stages, working closely with farmers, research organisations and industry partners to continuously test, validate and improve the technology, while also building a network of experienced advisors and support organisations around the company.
Key supports received during the start-up phase
We received support from a number of organisations throughout the journey, including WestBIC, LOE Roscommon, Enterprise Ireland and other regional and industry supports. These supports ranged from business planning and funding applications through to mentoring, commercialisation advice, introductions and strategic guidance.
The role WestBIC played during your start-up
WestBIC provided valuable support during the formative stages of Reap Interactive, particularly around business planning, preparing documentation and funding applications, and helping us structure and communicate the business opportunity as we moved from an early-stage concept towards a fundable and commercially focused company.
Words of advice for new start-ups
Stay very close to the problem you are trying to solve and to the customers experiencing it. Get your product or idea in front of real users as early as possible, listen carefully to their feedback and don't be afraid to adapt. Also, surround yourself with good people and make use of the support networks available — you don't have to figure everything out yourself.
Where the company is now
Reap Interactive has now transitioned from R&D into commercial deployment, with paying customers and technology operating in real-world livestock systems.
Our two core products are BovinePlus, which continuously monitors individual beef cattle, and BovineJunior, our recently launched system focused on calf development and early-life performance.
The technology captures individual animal weight and growth trends, water intake, behaviour and early health/performance indicators, providing farmers with actionable information without the need for traditional manual weighing.
We are commercially active in Ireland, have growing activity in the UK and Scotland, and are progressing our entry into the US market through commercial-scale feedlots. We are also building relationships with major international organisations across the livestock, nutrition, genetics, research and processing sectors.
Reap Interactive was named Overall Winner of the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena at the National Ploughing Championships in 2024, which was a significant milestone for the company.
Our next phase is focused on scaling BovinePlus and BovineJunior internationally, continuing our R&D programme and developing Reap from an individual technology solution into a broader livestock intelligence platform, using continuous animal-level data to improve productivity, health, welfare and sustainability across the livestock industry.
Any other information you feel is relevant
One of the most exciting aspects of the journey has been seeing something that began as an idea based on a very practical problem on livestock farms develop into technology that is now being used and evaluated across multiple international markets.
Our long-term ambition is to build a global livestock intelligence platform, using continuous individual-animal data to enable better decision-making not only for farmers, but eventually across the wider livestock supply chain.