CSIRO start-up takes RapidAIM at fruit fly menace

New insect-monitoring technology start-up RapidAIM provides real-time fruit fly detection and monitoring. Founded by CSIRO researchers Dr Nancy Schellhorn, Darren Moore, and Laura Jones, RapidAIM has now received AUD $1.25m in funding from Main Sequence Ventures following successful trials with fruit producers in Victoria.

“Growers rely on weather radar and take action accordingly, but until now they haven’t had any pest ‘radar’ to support them against pests like fruit fly,” said Dr Nancy Schellhorn, RapidAIM co-founder and chief executive. “Existing fruit fly monitoring relies solely on manual trap checking, which limits the scale and depth of available information and costs valuable resources.”

Fruit flies lay eggs in fruits and vegetables as they ripen. The hatched maggots ruin the produce from the inside, which creates losses for producers and incurs additional clean-up costs. CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, said that current fruit fly monitoring involves manually checking traps containing pheromones or food to attract pests.