Herdwatch plans to hire 40 additional people over the next few years in commercial and tech roles to facilitate its expansion plans.

Tipperary-based farm management software company Herdwatch has announced plans to double its workforce over the next three years, creating an additional 40 new jobs.

Many of the roles will have remote working opportunities and about 20 will be based at the company’s headquarters in Roscrea, Co Tipperary. The company will be hiring for both commercial and tech roles, and it has immediate open vacancies for inside sales representatives, customer success representatives, product owners, software and cloud automation engineers.

Herdwatch was founded in 2014 and its app is now used by more than 15,000 farmers in the UK and Ireland to monitor their herds and crops.

It is now planning to expand its services over the next few years, aiming to develop new technologies to help farmers cope with the climate crisis, in particular.

“This announcement is a signal of the ongoing success of Herdwatch,” said Fabien Peyaud, Herdwatch CEO and co-founder.

“We’re so proud to have been able to help thousands of farmers and create so many jobs over the past seven years, so I am thrilled to be growing the team supporting and building the next phase of Herdwatch. We are taking this step because we want Herdwatch to continue to expand – helping more farmers in Ireland and around the world but also offering even more benefits to our existing members.”

Herdwatch recently launched a new farm mapping tool, which allows farmers to map their farm for free within the app using satellite imagery. Peyaud said the new tool would enable farmers to map their farms “for free at the touch of a screen,” and it can be used by dairy, beef, sheep and suckler farmers.

The company is supported by Enterprise Ireland. The agency’s CEO, Leo Clancy, said Herdwatch’s expansion highlights “the potential for innovative firms to succeed and grow in the mid-west region”.

“Ireland is a leader in the agriculture and agritech sector and this investment shows clearly how Irish firms can create digital platforms to bring these capabilities to a global farming community.”

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar, TD, also welcomed the news. “The company is a fantastic example of an Irish-owned and based company providing innovative solutions for the agriculture sector. I’m particularly pleased that all of these jobs will offer remote working opportunities,” he said.

Reporting: Silicon Republic