BioScout—an Australian startup behind an AI-powered early warning system alerting farmers to fungal pathogens—has raised an A$6.75 million ($4.8 million) seed round co-led by Demea Sustainable Investment and Astanor. How it worksBioScout is an early warning system designed to identify airborne fungal threats before visible symptoms are observed in the field, says Collins. Actionable insightsCustomers access the data through a dashboard, but BioScout places greater emphasis on alerts notifying growers when spore levels rise. In those cases, BioScout positions the system less as a spray-reduction tool and more as a form of risk management. “It’s taken that long for people realize that spore data could be as essential as water irrigation sensing.”