What Laconik does

Laconik Pty Ltd is an Australian agricultural technology company headquartered in Nedlands, Western Australia, that operates a cloud-based SaaS platform purpose-built for farm-scale field trials. Its core offering, the Laconik Analytics Engine™, powers two products: Laconik Combine®, a swarm-trial methodology that randomly distributes multiple treatment plots across whole paddocks to measure spatial responses to fertiliser, herbicides, fungicides, pesticides, seeding rates, and biologicals; and Laconik Trial®, scientifically replicated strip trials for product demonstrations at grower scale. Proprietary machine learning algorithms analyse plot-level data, while satellite imagery and NDVI monitoring track in-season crop response, together producing profit gap maps and variable rate prescription maps that integrate directly with John Deere Operations Centre, AgWorld, and Bayer FieldView.

The company serves two primary segments: broadacre growers (particularly in Western Australia) seeking to optimise fertiliser ROI and reduce blanket-rate applications, and agribusiness customers — including Bayer Crop Science, FMC, Syngenta, ADAMA, Elders, and Nutrien — that need real-world ground-truthing data on crop protection and fertiliser products at paddock scale. Laconik monetises through a freemium SaaS model with usage fees tied to the type of fertiliser, information, physical space, and accessibility period purchased; pricing is not publicly disclosed. Distribution is sales-led, combining direct website sales, demo requests, agronomist and advisor referrals, and partnerships with global agribusiness and the GRDC research body.

Laconik reports 1.2 million hectares supported, 50,000 research plots completed, 120+ clients, and grower outcomes including up to 30% fertiliser cost savings and A$1 million in measured profit increases. The company is founder-led (CEO Darren Hughes, with co-founder Wayne Pluske and CTO John McGreadie), privately held, and has raised capital from Artesian VC, SproutX, GRDC, GrainInnovate, Wavemaker Ventures, and most recently SVG Ventures in February 2024.

Name

Laconik

Legal name

Laconik Pty Ltd ACN 623 098 411

Website

https://laconik.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Laconik is an Australian agtech SaaS company that runs farm-scale field trials via its Laconik Analytics Engine™, serving broadacre growers in Western Australia and global agribusiness customers (Bayer, FMC, Syngenta) with swarm-trial and replicated strip-trial products integrated into John Deere, AgWorld, and FieldView.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Technology / Precision Agriculture Software

NAICS

Support Activities for Crop Production (11511)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Farm Data Management & Decision Support Services (FMIS Setup, Data Integration, Analytics) (AFACACAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Satellite Imagery & Monitoring Platforms (AFAAAFAI), Remote Sensing & Imagery Analytics (Satellite, Drone, Aerial) (AFABAMAB), Interoperability & Data Connectivity Services (API/ETL, ISOXML/AgGateway, Equipment Data Sync) (AFACACAL)

Keywords

• Farm trial software
• Precision agriculture
• Agronomic analytics platform
• Fertilizer trial analytics
• Crop protection trials

Headquarters

HQ city

Perth

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription and Usage Fees: Laconik operates as a cloud-based SaaS platform where users create free accounts. Usage Fees are paid for purchases of trial data and information (e.g., fertiliser data). The Terms state: 'If you wish to make a Purchase, you will need to pay the applicable Usage Fee as set out on the Services, and as determined by factors such as the type of fertiliser, information, physical space and accessibility period included in such Purchase.' Usage Fees are non-refundable.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Laconik provides a cloud-based SaaS platform (Laconik Analytics Engine™) that enables growers and agribusiness to create, monitor, and analyse farm-scale field trials. The platform runs swarm trials (Laconik Combine®) randomly distributed across whole paddocks and scientifically replicated strip trials (Laconik Trial®), using satellite imagery, NDVI monitoring, and proprietary machine learning algorithms to measure spatial responses to fertiliser, herbicides, fungicides, and seeding rates. It generates variable rate prescription maps and integrates directly with farm machinery and digital agriculture platforms (John Deere Operations Centre, AgWorld, Bayer FieldView).

Product overview

Laconik is an agricultural technology company offering a unified platform built around the Laconik Analytics Engine™. The portfolio consists of two core products: Laconik Combine® for swarm trials that randomly place multiple treatment plots across entire paddocks to measure spatial variability, and Laconik Trial® for scientifically replicated strip trials at grower scale. Both products integrate with farm machinery and digital agriculture platforms to enable on-farm trials, data collection, and analysis, bridging the gap between research and grower adoption.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Laconik Combine®: A swarm of trials randomly placed across whole paddocks. Enables growers to measure spatial responses to treatments and develop variable rate prescription maps for fertiliser, crop protection, and other inputs.
• Laconik Trial®
• Laconik Analytics Engine™

Products and services

• Laconik Combine®

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,200,000 hectares supported across operations
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability4 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bayer Crop SciencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBayer Crop Science uses Laconik Combine® for fungicide and herbicide trials across Australia. The partnership enables real-world ground truthing on farm with swarm trials. Bayer partners with their FieldView digital platform for data flow, making it easy for growers using various machinery types. Laconik helps Bayer manage risk of bringing new agro-chemicals and crop protection solutions to market.
• AgWorldcoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration partnership enabling trial plot locations and rate details from Laconik to be available in AgWorld. Connected advisors with access to a farm's AgWorld account can view Laconik trial information. Allows accurate monitoring of plots throughout the season and easy sharing of trial information with third parties.
• John Deere Operations CentrecoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnical integration enabling Laconik to sync with John Deere Operations Centre. Laconik can access historic data through John Deere Operations Centre to generate trial nutrition maps. Files are easily loaded into seeders' variable rate systems. Laconik trial maps can be sent directly to growers' digital farming platforms in their spray units.
• GRDC (Grains Research and Development Corporation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGRDC co-publishes research reports with Laconik on topics including fallow management, nitrogen carryover after crop failure, and variable rate data. Laconik featured in GRDC Groundcover Report Issue 165. Founder Darren Hughes appeared on GRDC Podcast discussing fallow economics. GRDC invests in research, development and extension for Australian grain growers.
• FMCminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFMC (a global agricultural sciences company) is listed as a trusted partner of Laconik, advancing farming through innovative and sustainable crop protection technologies.
• SyngentaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSyngenta (leading agricultural company) is listed as a trusted partner, driving productivity through world class science, innovative crop protection and vegetable seed solutions.
• ADAMAminorGTM or Marketing PartnerADAMA (leading global crop protection company) is listed as a trusted partner, providing solutions to combat weeds, insects and disease.
• Elders AustraliaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerElders Australia (leading agribusiness since 1839) is listed as a trusted partner, focused on helping people find success with their agricultural business.
• Nutrien Ag SolutionsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerNutrien Ag Solutions (part of rural Australia for 180 years) is listed as a trusted partner, helping farmers get the most out of their farming business.
• Daybreak CroppingminorGTM or Marketing PartnerDaybreak Cropping (Australian broadacre cropping business) is listed as a trusted partner, focused on delivering superior investment performance in a safe and sustainable manner.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• AgWorld: AgWorld is an Australian-origin farm information management platform that integrates with Laconik to share trial plots and rate details. It serves the same Australian growers and agronomists with planning, records and input prescriptions, making it both a partner and a functional competitor.
• Farmers Edge: Farmers Edge is a digital agriculture platform combining field sensors, satellite imagery, variable-rate prescriptions and on-farm trials. It competes head-to-head with Laconik for broadacre enterprise growers seeking farm-scale trial and prescription analytics.
• Climate FieldView (Bayer): Climate FieldView is Bayer's flagship digital agriculture platform for field-data collection, satellite imagery and variable-rate prescriptions. It is both a Laconik integration partner (via FieldView data flow) and the most direct substitute serving the same broadacre growers and crop-protection customers.
• Taranis: Taranis is an AI-driven crop intelligence platform using aerial and satellite imagery for in-season crop monitoring and decision support. It targets the same broadacre-acre agronomist and grower workflow that Laconik's NDVI and variable-rate prescription use cases address.

Emerging players

• xFarm: xFarm is a European farm management SaaS combining agronomy, sustainability tracking and input optimisation. It is a smaller, regionally focused platform with overlapping field-trial and variable-rate ambitions to Laconik's.
• Intelinair (AGMRI): Intelinair's AGMRI uses aerial imagery and AI to monitor fields throughout the season, similar to Laconik's NDVI-driven in-season treatment response monitoring, and targets the same broadacre agronomy decision points.

Broad incumbents

• Granular (Corteva): Granular is Corteva's farm management software covering planning, operations and agronomy. It overlaps with Laconik on field-trial economics and prescription generation but sits inside a much broader portfolio of seed and crop-protection assets.
• John Deere Operations Centre: John Deere Operations Centre is the OEM smart-farming platform Laconik integrates with. As John Deere layers in more analytics and prescription services, it functions as both a critical distribution channel and a broad incumbent in the same decision-support category.
• Trimble Ag: Trimble Agriculture provides a wide portfolio of precision-ag hardware and software, including farm management and variable-rate workflows that overlap with Laconik's analytics-led proposition, especially across mixed-fleet growers.

Others

• Bushel: Bushel is a grain-management and farm-data connectivity platform that powers data sharing between growers, ag retailers and grain buyers. It is adjacent to Laconik because both sit between growers and agribusiness partners, but Bushel is not itself a trial-analytics provider.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Loconik_AUS

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Laconik