The Queensland Government is investing $2 million in Brisbane-based cattle breeding technology company Nbryo, marking the first investment announced under the state’s $30 million Sowing the Seeds of Farming Innovation Fund. The investment, managed by Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), will support Nbryo’s efforts to develop and commercialise embryo production technologies designed to accelerate genetic improvement in cattle while making advanced breeding tools more accessible and affordable to producers.
Founded in 2024, Nbryo is developing a platform that combines in vitro embryo production with bio-digital and robotic technologies to enable the production of high-quality embryos at scale. The company’s ambition is to compress what would traditionally require years of conventional breeding into a significantly shorter cycle. Its technology platform is designed around the potential to achieve seven years’ worth of breeding progress within a seven-day in-vitro embryo production cycle.
The Queensland Government said the investment will help Nbryo move its technology towards commercial deployment and expand access to superior livestock genetics for beef and dairy producers. “Queensland has an incredible opportunity to lead the world in agricultural technology innovation,” said Paul Niven, Chief Executive Officer of Nbryo. “We’re proud to showcase the work being undertaken at Nbryo and the role advanced reproductive technologies can play in helping make better herds faster,” Niven said. “Translating scientific innovation into practical outcomes for cattle farmers is at the core of our mission. Every improvement in reproductive efficiency has the potential to deliver significant benefits for producers, the supply chain and the broader agricultural sector.”
Tackling the slow pace of genetic improvement
Nbryo is targeting a longstanding challenge in livestock production: the time required to achieve meaningful genetic improvement through conventional breeding. Existing breeding systems can be slow and difficult to scale. In many cases, achieving a 10 per cent improvement in a trait or group of traits can take around seven years, while annual improvement may be limited to approximately 1.5 per cent.
Nbryo aims to change that equation by combining advanced reproductive technologies with digital systems and robotics. The company’s platform is designed to increase selection intensity and accuracy while enabling elite embryos to be produced at scale. The approach could allow cattle breeders to identify desirable genetic traits and multiply them more rapidly, potentially shortening breeding cycles and improving the speed at which superior genetics enter commercial herds.
For producers, faster genetic progress could translate into improvements in herd performance, productivity and profitability, while also helping reduce the cost and time associated with accessing advanced breeding technologies.
First investment under Queensland’s $30 million innovation fund
The Nbryo investment is the first commitment announced through the Queensland Government’s $30 million Sowing the Seeds of Farming Innovation Fund, launched in 2024. The fund was established to make equity investments across multiple stages of business growth and help agricultural technologies move beyond pilot projects into commercially scalable enterprises.
The programme is designed to support businesses developing technologies that can deliver measurable improvements across Queensland’s agricultural value chain, including on-farm productivity, profitability and sustainability. QIC is managing the investment using its commercial investment expertise to identify and support innovative businesses with the potential to deliver long-term benefits to Queensland’s primary industries.
The investment in Nbryo will help the company expand its technology and improve producers’ access to superior livestock genetics.
Government targets $30 billion primary production sector
The investment comes as the Queensland Government pursues a target of increasing the value of the state’s primary production sector to $30 billion by 2030. Queensland Primary Industries Minister Tony Perrett said agricultural technology would be critical to achieving that goal. “The Sowing the Seeds of Farming Innovation Fund will help Queensland producers reach this bold goal by getting game-changing technology from concept to on-farm application sooner,” Perrett said.
“Queensland is home to almost half Australia’s beef herd, and this investment will help accelerate technologies that improve access to superior genetics, reduce costs and support a more productive and profitable beef and dairy sector,” he added. Perrett, who is also a beef producer, said the technology being developed by Nbryo could help make advanced breeding tools more accessible to producers. “As a beef producer myself, I know how important it is to maximise productivity and make every dollar count,” he said.
“Nbryo is developing technology that has the potential to make advanced breeding tools more accessible and affordable for producers, helping them improve herd performance and profitability.”
Agriculture innovation moves from lab to farm
The Queensland Government sees the Sowing the Seeds of Farming Innovation Fund as a mechanism for closing the gap between scientific research and commercial agricultural applications. Rather than focusing only on early-stage research, the fund is intended to help promising technologies progress towards commercialisation and practical on-farm use.
For Nbryo, that means scaling a technology platform that combines reproductive science with automation, digital systems and robotics. The company’s longer-term objective is to make accelerated genetic improvement available to cattle breeders globally, potentially creating a new model for how elite genetics are selected, reproduced and distributed.
The ability to produce high-quality embryos at scale could also provide producers with greater access to genetics that might otherwise be difficult or expensive to obtain.
Queensland backs technology-led agricultural growth
State Minister for Finance, Trade, Employment and Training Ros Bates said the investment reflected the Queensland Government’s broader focus on creating the conditions for agricultural innovation and business growth. “We are backing our primary producers to develop the technology they need to stay at the forefront and continue to grow our agricultural sector,” Bates said.
“The Government is creating the conditions for innovation, investment and job creation and supporting the long-term success of Queensland’s primary industries.” The investment in Nbryo gives the Sowing the Seeds of Farming Innovation Fund its first major test in the market, while providing the Brisbane-based startup with capital to advance its reproductive technology platform.
