Methane reduction has long been called the “holy grail” of agricultural climate tech - essential, urgent, and notoriously difficult to commercialize.
Solutions have historically been too expensive, too impractical for grazing systems, or too light on evidence to win the trust of farmers.
“Most efforts fail at the first hurdle: making a business model that works,” says Icehouse Principal Mason Bleakley. “When I met Tom (Dr Tom Williams, Co-Founder and CEO of Number 8 Bio.) it was clear that Number 8 Bio was a startup with the economics figured out.”
Now, with an $11m Series A raise led by Icehouse Ventures with participation from Main Sequence Ventures and Japan’s ONE Innovators, Number 8 Bio is preparing to commercialize BetterFeed - a methane-reducing livestock product that reportedly does what the sector has been waiting for: deliver productivity gains first, and climate impact as a co-benefit.
A methane solution that pays for itself
While much of the conversation about enteric methane is framed around percentages - reductions of 50%, 70%, even 90% - Williams argues that the real story is simpler: methane is a symptom of inefficiency.
“Every burp represents lost nutrition,” he says. “Up to 12% of what farmers feed their animals is disappearing into the air. That’s inefficiency, and inefficiency is exactly where innovation should start.”
Early small-scale trials of BetterFeed have shown promising signs of that productivity lift, with 5 to 10% improvements in feed efficiency. If those results translate to commercial farms, Williams tells us that the product becomes “almost instantly profitable,” offering farmers up to a 3:1 return on investment at any scale.
In a category dominated by costly or hard-to-deliver solutions - especially for grazing operations - cost-effectiveness and scalability become the defining differentiators.
Designed for the 90% of livestock tech forgot
Most methane inhibitors on the market are built for feedlots. But feedlots represent a small minority of animals.
In Australia, more than 90% of ruminants are in pasture-based systems, notes Williams.
That’s where the emissions come from, and that’s where existing solutions struggle to reach, he adds.
BetterFeed is designed specifically for those systems, delivered as either a feed additive, or a slow-release bolus that lasts up to six months.
The bolus is claimed to be the breakthrough. It allows BetterFeed to reach grazing beef and sheep at scale - a market so large that even modest adoption could materially shift national and export emissions profiles.
A different molecule, a different model of action
Unlike seaweed or synthetic bromoform-based products, BetterFeed uses a proprietary organic small molecule with a non-bromoform mode of action designed for improved rumen efficiency and a stronger safety profile.
Cost and methane abatement potential remain competitive - independent trials have shown reductions from around 50% to as high as 90%, depending on the animal’s baseline emissions and feeding system - but the company emphasizes a scientific nuance often lost in headlines.
Reporting in percentages is misleading though, Williams says. “Every inhibitor has an abatement potential per gram. The percentage reduction depends on the animal’s starting point - species, breed, feed, everything.”
What matters is consistent abatement from a molecule that survives feed milling, pasture delivery, and real-world farm conditions.
Science at startup speed: “weeks, not years”
One of Number 8 Bio’s advantages sits behind the scenes: its patented rumen-modelling platform, the Rumen Simulating Bioreactor (RSB).
This system allows the team to rapidly test, screen, and predict the performance of new molecules long before they reach animals - accelerating innovation cycles that traditionally take years.
“Our scientists move from lab to animal trials and back again in weeks,” Williams says. “We learn fast, adjust quickly, and stay grounded in what actually works on-farm.”
The platform is also heavily defensible. Patents are in place to block use of the active ingredient and protect the RSB technology, creating a moat that will matter as global competition intensifies.
Scaling at cost: the green chemistry advantage
BetterFeed’s active ingredient can be sourced on the global market, but Number 8 Bio found it could manufacture the molecule in-house - and cost competitively.
Even better, it can do so using green chemistry, reducing manufacturing impacts while retaining full control over scalability.
The farmers are already knocking
Farmers who’ve trialed seaweed or bromoform-based products “are looking for something at lower cost, which is more scalable by reaching grazing animals and has the potential to provide a productivity uplift - all reasons we see our products as having a competitive advantage in the market.”
There’s room for a few winners globally, Williams remarks. Farmers will choose what works best for their operation and Number 8 Bio is confident in where it sits, he says.
A global play with a clear timeline
The Series A funding will accelerate large-scale animal trials, regulatory approvals in Australia, New Zealand, the EU, and the US, a carbon insetting program to let farmers and supply chains claim verified reductions, and commercial readiness for both the additive and the bolus.
BetterFeed is on track for Australian commercial launch in 2026, with expansion into other markets in 2027–2028. A new carbon insetting methodology, developed with a global verification body, is expected to be validated in 2026 — unlocking Scope 3 emissions reductions for supply chains.
Japan is watching closely. The country imports more than 247,000 tons of Australian beef annually.
For ONE Innovators, which joined the Series A, the dual impact is compelling. Japan can both import lower-emission beef and deploy BetterFeed domestically to cut its own agricultural emissions.
“That represents meaningful climate action and commercial opportunity,” says ONE Innovators General Partner Murakami Teruyoshi.
A rare moment of alignment in the climate–agriculture debate
Agriculture and climate policy often make uneasy partners. Farmers don’t want higher costs; regulators want lower emissions. Few solutions satisfy both.
“By both increasing yields for farmers at the front end, and reducing emissions on the back end, Number 8 Bio proves that profit and the planet can co-exist,” says Bleakley.
Williams believes this alignment is exactly why the company is gaining momentum - and why investors from three countries backed the Series A.
“This raise shows serious global belief in what’s being built here in Australia,” he says. “Capital is moving toward innovations that deliver measurable impact and commercial return. That’s exactly where BetterFeed sits.”
In a field long stuck between scientific promise and commercial reality, Number 8 Bio may have cracked the code: methane mitigation that pays for itself.
