Peter Thiel probably already thinks most people are cattle, and he’s backed most of the noteworthy surveillance technology companies designed to track humans. So it’s only right that he’s doing the same to actual livestock. Bloomberg reports that Thiel’s Founders Fund recently led a funding round for a company called Halter that makes AI-infused collars for cows.
According to the report, the raise brought in more than $220 million at a $2 billion valuation, making the company the largest ever venture capital raise by a New Zealand-founded company, and nearly doubles the valuation the company was given during its June 2025 funding round.
So what exactly is this company doing that is worth $2 billion? The dismissive answer is that it sells a smart collar for cows. The more corporate-approved language is that it has created an operating system for farm management. Basically, the company makes a solar-powered, GPS-enabled accessory that farmers can place around the necks of their herd to keep tabs on them. A big selling point for the collars is the ability to set up virtual fencing, using sound and vibration cues delivered through the collar to keep the animals within a specific range. Halter also makes some other major promises, like helping farmers keep tabs on potential indicators of illness and tracking breeding cycles.
According to a report from the New Zealand Herald, Halter currently has about 2,000 farms signed up for its service, and has sold over one million of its collars, which certainly seems like a significant bit of business, especially for a company that has primarily focused on selling to farmers in New Zealand. Now that it has eyes on expanding across Australia and the United States, the grubby hands of Big Tech apparently want in.
Halter isn’t exactly first to market with a smart collar or virtual fencing. There are several other competitors in the space who offer something similar. One of the big sells for Halter seems to be the AI-related branding that is doing a fair amount of heavy lifting as a differentiator in marketing copy, whether or not it is in the pasture.
There are a few things about Halter that appeal to Thiel, first and foremost, probably being the potential to have power over the global food supply. There’s also the fact that Halter uses a Vulture Capitalist’s favorite sales tactic: offering a subscription service. According to an interview with AgTechNavigator, Halter president Andrew Fraser said the company sells a monthly subscription to its software, charging between $5 to $8 per cow and per collar. Thiel could have zero interest in agriculture, but you’ll be damned if you stop him from getting in on a business that figures out how to charge people a recurring fee for something that they’ve already paid for.
Per the New Zealand Herald, Halter founder Craig Piggott said that Thiel personally oversaw the latest funding round, and the company hopes to break into the American market. “It was amazing how quickly he understood the product and the industry. He’s clearly a very smart human,” Piggott told the paper, the very last word of his sentence being a bold assumption about the man.
Anyway, keep an eye out for your government-mandated Halter for Humans, powered by Palantir, coming in 2028?
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