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After years of exposure to the workloads bestowed on stud office staff at some of Australia's largest commercial studs, Breeder founder Tom Seymour, was determined to find a more efficient process.
“The defining moment for me was when I was waiting on a meeting in a nominations office of a large multinational stud, I found myself passing time by following the paper trail associated with taking a stallion booking. I recall being shocked by the amount of manual entry & double handing being undertaken, it appeared to be an endless procession of 7page contracts being printed, signed and then manually scanned out to breeders who I knew would then just repeat that process at their end. When I noticed the returned contracts being piled on in-trays for further signing and then that data is manually transferred onto a A$60 whiteboard that housed the entire rosters scheduling, sometimes worth tens of millions of dollars. I knew there had to be a more efficient process that would benefit everyone.
From that moment on, there was a burning desire to streamline the entire stallion booking process and this led to the creation of Breeder which is now a fully digital, end-to-end booking system. During early trials, Breeds has proven that it can revolutionise stud administration processes, saving valuable time and making the whole it for breeders to book their mares. Studs are loving the efficiencies Breeder brings to their operation in managing those bookings but is now using the platform as a sales tool, attracting new clients and outside mares they have never previously had access to.
“I simply isolated every step of the stallion booking process and looked to apply a more efficient digital alternative. When I put all the pieces of the jigsaw back together, the entire process, including the contract generation, took under 3mins and without a single piece of paper to be seen”
Breeder has separate portals specifically designed to cater or the demands of the breeder as well as the stud farms. These portals then synchronise to create direct data links between breeder and stud. This allows the stud office to make changes to their daily service schedule which in turn will automatically notify the breeder and update their private mare booking dashboard. Breeders can now house their entire mare portfolio on the one page, keeping track of bookings, pregnancy scans, service fees etc, even a free advanced pedigree is provided when a mare is uploaded.
Seymour is hopeful that by granting free access to Breeder's digital toolbox, smaller enterprises will be able to operate on a level playing field to those larger, well-resourced studs. In turn, it is hoped that by making the breeding process easier and more accessible to a wider audience, it will attract new players and investment to the market.
“The feedback from those progressive studs who trialled our software this season has been overwhelmingly positive. The onset of COVID lockdowns forced some studs to rely on Breeder's cloud-based technology, meaning key staff could access all internal systems securely from home. Speaking directly with the stud office staff, the biggest ‘game-changer’ for them was access to the DocuSign signature contracts. Not only is the entire contracting process now automated, but the speed in which contracts are now signed and returned is making significant daily time savings.
Breeder is keen to collaborate with state and national breeding governing bodies so they can offer free software to their members and help all in the industry. Breeder is confident that the time saved by using new digital processes, will inevitably end up being reinvested into the welfare of the horses and farm staff.
After a debut season in the Southern Hemisphere that exceeded all expectations, Breedr is currently undertaking a capital raise to fast-track phase 2 of its development. Phase 2 will include a Northern Hemisphere version and other data sharing innovations to assist breeders adhere to increasing welfare requirements.
In the meantime, Breedr will continue to refine its free digital software solutions, hopeful they will ultimately modernise the industry and create easier pathways for racehorse owners to continue on into the breeding industry.