A young farmer’s mission to simplify farm-management

“From the office to the farm – everything we’re doing at Mobble is for the sole purpose of making the lives of farmers easier and more successful,” says co-founder Jock Lawrence.

“We started in 2018, and today we actively help more than 2,500 farmers in Australia and New Zealand to manage their farms.”

The engineer turned entrepreneur has plenty of farming experience up his sleeves.

In fact, it was at his family’s sheep and cattle farm in Avenel, Victoria that Jock came up with the idea to replace the pocket-sized notebook that farmers have used for decades and simplify the farm recording system.

“My Dad and I had been trying to centralise all of our farm data and records into one place. We really struggled to do that in a nice, efficient way,” Jock said.

“It started off as a basic record-keeping app for farmers, and it’s since turned into a livestock and farm management platform that helps manages all farm data.”

Mobble’s origin story

Founded by Jock and his best mate from university Jack Hurley, Mobble’s cloud-based software connects multiple users and properties to simplify the farm management system, helping farmers to utilise the data in a way that’s more sustainable and profitable.

Jack was working as a contract software developer in Bali when Jock approached him with the idea for building the farm management software. The two friends spent two weeks putting a plan together and the rest is history.

Through Mobble, farmers can access livestock records, stocking rates, mob and paddock treatments, historic events and sales, with the platform making compliance easier and connecting the farm’s team making collaboration easier.

Opening new doors (and farm gates)

Growing the company from a bootstrapped startup to a team of 11 on limited cash flow has definitely had its challenges. But a $50,000 grant from LaunchVic and Agriculture Victoria has opened new doors for the business.

“That funding went towards building a very important part of Mobble’s current feature set, which we otherwise wouldn’t have had the capacity to do,” Jock said.

“We were able to build our new third-party access feature, Mobble Connect, which allows farmers to collaborate with essential partners like contractors, farm advisors, livestock agents and accountants.

“We released that feature late last year, and it has had a huge impact already.”

Recipients of the AgTech Grants Program are also matched with experienced mentors who provide advice on common growth challenges.

“Having someone external to unload all your questions and problems onto was the biggest benefit,” Jock said.

“We spoke about raising capital and how that could help us to further expand into new markets.”

“Workshoping these ideas was also really helpful in preparing us  for the next steps.”

Taking Mobble to the world

With Mobble currently helping  farmers’ manage more than seven million hectares of land, 2024 is set to be an even bigger year for the team, with the focus shifting from finding product market fit to doubling down on growth.

“We already have some clients in South America and Africa,” Jock says.

“Now we want to bring Mobble to a larger number of farmers so we can have an even bigger impact.”

Applications for the AgTech Grants Program are accepted on a rolling basis. For more information, visit launchvic.org/agtech.