Founders Fund has established its reputation by supporting what Peter Thiel refers to as “zero to one” companies — organizations that innovate significantly beyond existing concepts rather than merely enhancing them. Its investment portfolio features Facebook, SpaceX, and Palantir. Its most recent investment is in a startup from New Zealand that equips cows with solar-powered smart collars.

Halter, which secured a $220 million Series E round at a valuation of $2 billion last month, with Founders Fund at the helm, is not the type of firm that typically headlines tech news. There’s no advanced AI in play, nor any humanoid robots. However, there exists a substantial, largely unresolved issue: How can cattle be managed over some of the earth’s most isolated landscapes without the aid of dogs, horses, motorbikes, or helicopters?

Craig Piggott, the 30-year-old founder and CEO of Halter, has dedicated nine years to finding a solution. “For anyone managing a pasture-based farm, be it dairy or beef, the key factor is how you optimize the productivity of your land,” Piggott shared with TechCrunch in a recent chat. “Fences serve as the control mechanism — they dictate grazing areas for animals and manage land recovery. The concept of doing that virtually made complete sense.”

Halter’s system integrates a solar-powered collar, a low-frequency tower network, and a smartphone application enabling farmers to establish virtual fences, observe their livestock 24/7, and maneuver their herds without stepping outside the farmhouse. Cattle are conditioned to respond to sound and vibration cues from the collar — a training process that Piggott compares to how a car beeps while reversing toward a wall. He notes that most animals learn to navigate virtual fences after just three encounters. “Then you can lead them and redirect them using only sound and vibration.”

The collar offers more than herding capabilities. Because it is constantly monitoring and collecting behavioral data, it also assesses the health of the animals, tracks reproductive cycles, and alerts when specific animals might be unwell, a functionality that Piggott claims has vastly improved as Halter has built what is likely the world’s most extensive dataset on cattle behavior. The company is currently on its fifth generation of hardware, and its reproduction tool is in beta testing with customers in the U.S.

“The product ranchers use now is dramatically different from what they purchased a year ago,” Piggott remarked. “We are introducing new features to our clients every week.”

Piggott grew up on a dairy farm in New Zealand, went on to study engineering, and had a brief experience at Rocket Lab, the aerospace company that gave him his first insight into the technology startup landscape. “Rocket Lab was my landmark into the tech and startup world, along with venture capital,” he said. “The awareness that one could raise funds, assemble a team, and pursue an ambitious mission was motivating. I aspired to apply that to agriculture.” He founded Halter at age 21. “Perhaps a bit naive in hindsight,” he acknowledged, “but that was acceptable.”

After nine years, Halter’s collar is utilized on over a million cattle across 2,000+ farms within New Zealand, Australia, and the United States, where the company operates in 22 states. The financial case for farmers is clear: By providing ranchers with exact control over their herds’ grazing patterns, Halter can enhance land productivity by as much as 20% — not solely by reducing labor costs (though that occurs as well), but by maximizing the efficiency of grazing and minimizing leftover grass. “In some instances, we observe clients effectively doubling the productivity of their land,” Piggott stated. “The potential returns are very, very robust.”

Halter is not the only one recognizing this opportunity. The pharmaceutical behemoth Merck already has its own virtual fencing product for cattle, termed Vence, and newer competitors are emerging — recently, at Y Combinator’s latest “demo day,” a startup named Grazemate showcased a concept for utilizing autonomous drones to herd cattle (without the need for collars).

Piggott appears unfazed by either development. When asked about drones, he responds: “Can I envision drones playing a minor role in the future? Possibly. But I don’t believe a drone is suitable for the main function of virtual fencing. A collar will likely remain the ideal form factor for an extended period.” Regarding the broader competitive landscape, he maintains that the primary challenge isn’t rival technology. “The most significant competition is simply inertia,” he stated. “It’s sticking to what you did last year.”

What differentiates Halter, Piggott asserts, is the rigorous engineering challenge it has faced over nine years — a system managing a thousand animals must demonstrate high reliability, as even a 1% failure rate translates to ten animals potentially escaping at any moment. “Achieving those high levels of reliability takes time,” he expressed, “and that lengthy process is what we validated in New Zealand over many years before expanding internationally.”

Halter is also somewhat unique within the agri-tech industry, which has seen a downturn recently as startups struggled to convince farmers to adopt innovative products amidst escalating operational costs. Piggott attributes Halter’s growth to its unwavering focus on financial return. “From the very beginning, Halter has been constructed around delivering a solid financial ROI,” he stated. “If you can amplify land productivity by 20%, that positively impacts the whole business.”

Unlike most tech firms, Halter does not regard the United States as its primary market. “The U.S. market is crucial for us, but it’s not the biggest globally,” Piggott noted. “Agriculture exists worldwide, and we must reach those markets as well.” The company has now raised approximately $400 million in total and is focusing on expansion throughout the U.S., South America, and Europe.

However, the magnitude of the remaining opportunity is perhaps best illustrated by a single statistic — one that likely resonates with Founders Fund and Halter’s previous investors. Halter’s collar is attached to one million cattle, while there are one billion more globally. With less than 10% market penetration in its home market of New Zealand, “We have a long road ahead, and much more product to develop,” Piggott remarked.

You can listen to our discussion with Piggott in the latest episode of the StrictlyVC Download podcast, released on Tuesdays.