Dyneval has secured more than £500,000 of additional funding.

The Edinburgh-based agricultural technology firm specialises in developing technology to help farmers operate more sustainably and secure food supply chains.

The funding will be used to accelerate production of an automated and portable instrument for semen analysis.

Current methods for semen assessment used on farms produce user-dependent results and are not optimised for fresh and sex-sorted semen concentrations. The Dynescan Semen Analyser aims to provide new insights into the length of time for which sperm maintain motility in a warm, low oxygen environment that mimic in-vivo conditions.

This should offer vets and farmers the opportunity to tailor breeding plans to optimise conception rates. Dyneval claims that its technology could save the average UK dairy farmer £37,000 each year due to cost of poor conception rates, which have fallen by 20% over the past 40 years.

Supported by Alistair Lang and Ollie Hofford, from Thorntons’ ventures and innovation team, Dyneval has secured investment from Kelvin Capital, Scottish Enterprise, Gabriel Investments and Par Equity.

Dr Tiffany Wood, co-founder of Dyneval, said: “Improving the efficiency of food production is more important than ever right now since the cost of living is rising, and it’s becoming more challenging for farmers to access grant funding.”

In November 2021, the start-up raised £1.29m of Series A equity investment through a funding round which included Jim Dobson, chair of Cottagequinn Enterprises, alongside Kelvin Capital, Par Equity, Gabriel Investments and Scottish Enterprise.

It also won a £575,000 grant from InnovateUK under the Transforming Food Production Investor Partnership.

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