Woolworths’ venture capital firm W23, the co-founders of supermarket chain Harris Farm, the family office of Tesla chairwoman Robyn Denholm and Australian venture capital fund Salus Ventures are among backers of an Australian start-up that plans to build cybersecurity style protection in the biosecurity realm.

ExoFlare has been operating in stealth mode since 2022, having been co-founded by Silicon Valley veteran and former CEO of the CSIRO’s Data61 Adrian Turner, alongside strategic risk expert Chris Aitken in late 2020. It has built a tech platform to let agricultural and food sector operators monitor and defend against biosecurity threats such as avian flu.