Using solar power to better manage cattle on large tracts of farmland is not an idea that comes to most people’s minds. Halter, a New Zealand based company, is developing solar-powered smart collars for cow to do just that. The company recently raised $220 million in a Series E funding round, bringing Halter’s total valuation to around $2 billion. The round was led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.

Halter was founded in 2016 by Craig Piggott in New Zealand. Mr. Piggot, now 30 years old, grew up on a dairy farm in Matamata, New Zealand and came up with the idea after observing the challenges of managing cattle spread across vast terrains. After graduating with an engineering degree and briefly working at a technology startup, Mr. Piggot was inspired to start his own company. He saw the opportunity to address unmet needs in the agriculture sector.

Ranchers can significantly improve the productivity and profitability of their farmland through effective management of their cattle herds. Halter aims to reduce the amount ranchers spend on feed, labor, and fencing through use of its smart collar.

Halter’s smart cattle collar tracks the location and behavior of cattle in real-time. The data collected from the smart collar shows up on a smartphone app, enabling ranchers to seamlessly monitor cattle herds. The ranchers can move the cattle remotely by nudging them with gentle audio and vibration cues emitted from the collar. For example, a rancher may nudge some cattle to move to an area with more grass to improve the overall cattle grazing efficiency of the herd. By improving grazing efficiency and leaving less grass behind, ranchers can cut back on the supplemental cost of hay.

The GPS collars are powered by solar energy and connect directly to satellite. By connecting to the Starlink satellite network, Halter’s cow collars can maintain reliable coverage in remote areas that lack cell towers.

“Connectivity has been the final barrier to bringing virtual fencing across remote and expansive ranches,” stated founder and CEO Craig Piggott. “Direct-to-satellite allows ranchers to manage hundreds of thousands of acres in the most remote terrain on the planet. Combined with our new suite of product features, these ranchers can be even more productive.”

In addition to its virtual fencing and pasture management capabilities, the smart collars also provide information about animal health and fertility cycles. As the app collects larger volumes of data, it has further refined its ability to detect when animals are about to become sick.

Mr. Piggot believes the total addressable market is huge for its technology, and Halter has barely even scratched the surface of its home market in New Zealand. Investors seem to also be bullish on Halter’s growth potential. Halter’s collars are currently present on more than 2,000 farms across New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.

Other startups have spotted opportunities to create systems for better managing cattle herds. A