Taking flight: How the evokeAG. 2025 Startup Program helped Drone-Hand soar
“Being part of evokeAG. 2025 gave us exposure to not just industry, but investors and everyone in between,” says Edward Barraclough of Drone-Hand, which used evokeAG. 2025 to secure trials, partnerships, and customer interest ahead of its commercial launch. The 2026 Startup Program gives agritech founders the same opportunity: a prime exhibition spot, and direct access to the people who can help scale your business. With applications now open, Edward is encouraging other agritech founders to take the leap.
A few years ago, on a visit to his father’s farm in Crookwell, NSW, former aerial photographer Edward Barraclough sent his drone up to capture photos of the rolling Southern Tablelands hills. But what his father said next sparked an idea that would set Edward on a new career path.
“If that could check the stock for me, I could stay on the farm longer,” said the elder Mr Barraclough – then in his early 80s.
At the time, Edward knew drone analysis solutions were available for cropping & horticulture, but little existed for livestock. “The idea was driven by what I could do for Dad. But the more I spoke to other property owners, the more customer validation I got.”
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That seed of an idea has grown into Drone-Hand, an AI-powered livestock monitoring and management system selected as part of the evokeAG. 2025 Startup Program. Just six months shy of its planned commercial launch, the timing couldn’t have been better.
“Our reason for applying for the Startup Program was twofold. We were very close to commercialising after years of development, and we wanted to keep getting the word out about what we’re building,” said Edward, Drone-Hand’s founder and CEO.
“evokeAG. 2025 gave us that exposure at exactly the right moment.”
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Engineering efficiency and safety into livestock checks
Drone-Hand is an all-in-one property monitoring solution that saves livestock producers time and money by automating daily stock checks with the help of autonomous drones. “On smaller properties in the southeast of Australia, checking stock might take a producer two to five hours,” explained Edward. “On large cattle stations in the north of the country, it can mean helicopters and ground teams.”
In both cases, it’s a task that carries cost and risk.
“By integrating proprietary machine learning tailored to Australian datasets, Drone-Hand provides real-time stock counts and locations, spots animal health or injury issues and flags changes in water sources or infrastructure like fence lines for properties of all sizes, from vast grazing lands to high density feedlots.” explained Edward.
The result? Less risk to farm operators. Improved efficiency through reduced labour costs and saved time. Better welfare outcomes and fewer stock losses. And enhanced sustainability outcomes through lower vehicle-related greenhouse gas emissions.
Drone-Hand’s offering is adaptable to varying enterprise needs and producer preferences. Livestock producers can choose to watch a live visual feed through their drone controller or receive fully automated reports that alert them to issues should they arise. For feedlots and dairies, fixed-camera versions are also available.
Scale isn’t a barrier; the software is compatible across a range of drone brands and types, from off-the-shelf camera drones to fully autonomous drone dock stations, and long-distance vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drones. Or, as Edward called them, “basically small planes.”
“We aim to provide a complete package for our customers. Our creation is the software package – but if customers don’t have a drone, we can provide the hardware too. We also provide regulatory assistance and training if they need it.”
Startup Program kickstarts momentum
Building a software startup is an expensive business. Edward and his technical co-founder, Sebastian Haan (a research data scientist and machine learning engineer) bootstrapped as long as they could, supplemented by grants. “We’ve been building over the last couple of years,” added Edward. “Because it takes a long time to train the machine-learning models.”
But the company received a $700,000 shot in the arm via their recent pre-seed round, and now boast trials across New Zealand, Australia, the US, and Canada – where they’ve refined the product and validated the pain points they are solving.
For Drone-Hand, evokeAG. 2025 came at the perfect time. “We were ready to show the world what we’d been building,” said Edward. “And we got so much out of that event. It was quite unexpected to generate the amount of positive momentum that we did.”
That momentum included new trial projects with key corporates in Australia, plus opportunities with high-intensity production systems like feedlots – a customer segment the Drone-Hand team had not anticipated.
“The largest feedlot and beef processing facility in Australia sought us out at evokeAG. and posed the question, could your system work within what we’re doing? The request came from left field, But I said, ‘Yeah, why not.’ And it’s become a really big project for us.”
Partnerships also deepened. “Part of building awareness is not just with the customer base, it’s also with the industry,” Edward explained. Drone-Hand shared its Startup Alley stand with Toll Group’s drone department, Toll Uncrewed. “They’re a national uncrewed aviation service provider who support us with regulatory and training expertise, streamlining pathways for future deployments,” explained Edward. Collaborations with drone manufacturers are also being bedded down.
From bootstrapping to commercial launch
With commercial launch just around the corner, Drone-Hand is seeking corporate partners, manufacturing partnerships, and trial participants to continue refining the platform, and expand its reach.
“We’re livestock monitoring first; that’s my background, and that’s our primary focus. But down the track, we can also start looking at how this could work in other spaces,” said Edward. “There’s no reason why it couldn’t shift into different sectors: energy or public safety, for example.”
Applications for the evokeAG. 2026 Startup Program are now open
For startups considering the 2026 evokeAG. Startup Program, Drone-Hand’s experience demonstrates the value of industry exposure, cross-sector engagement, and market validation. “It’s exposure to not just industry, but investors and everyone in between – which makes evokeAG. so different from your average field day,” Edward said.
“The Startup Program played a pivotal role in creating valuable pathways and partnerships for our business. And with commercialisation around the corner, the momentum evokeAG. generated has been amazing.”
Could Startup Alley be your springboard to scale? Applications for the 2026 evokeAG. Startup Program are now open and close Friday, 24 October 2025. For more information and to apply, click here.
To connect with Drone-Hand and explore collaboration opportunities, or learn how autonomous drone monitoring can assist your business, reach out to the growAG. Concierge team here.