RapidAIM

About

RapidAIM builds battery-powered, low-power IoT insect traps that identify pests by species-specific movement signatures, transmit real-time location and alerts via narrow-band communications to a smartphone app for targeted monitoring.

Mission

RapidAIM builds small, mobile insect traps equipped with sensors and algorithms that identify pests by registering species-specific behaviors rather than relying on imaging. The traps use a proprietary ultra-low-power communications platform and narrow-band IoT to log locations in real time and send alerts to a smartphone app. Each device can run for up to 18 months on two small lithium-ion batteries, enabling dense, low-cost deployment. The company has deployed about 500 sensors across eastern Australia and New Zealand, serving 170 users over roughly 450 square kilometers of farmland. RapidAIM initially targets fruit fly and is working to extend its detection platform to fall armyworm and codling moth to reach horticultural and row-crop markets. Management positions the product as a way to reduce blanket pesticide use by enabling targeted, time- and place-specific interventions. RapidAIM is a CSIRO spinout that has developed a real-time pest monitoring system using low-powered smart sensors to detect insects by their movements. The sensors send movement data to an app that gives producers a real-time view of pests on their farms or across a region. The founders—Dr Nancy Schellhorn, Darren Moore, and Laura Jones—say the technology can reduce the time spent checking manual traps by more than 35%. RapidAIM positions the system as a pest radar to support growers and enable more targeted crop-protection, potentially reducing broad insecticide use. The company cites fruit flies as threatening US$30 billion of production and US$18 billion in global trade, underscoring the market need. It has raised $1.25 million from Main Sequence Ventures to fund trials of the system.

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