Business mates Kevin Bain and George Campbell with their self-resetting pest trap
It was 2014 and Hamilton industrial electrician Kevin Bain was out tramping in the bush, something he enjoyed regularly.
At the side of the track was a pest trap. "I poked my head in and noticed there was no bait. The trap had been triggered but there was nothing in it."
Mr Bain was aware of the problem pests posed to native New Zealand wildlife and the headache they caused landowners and conservationists.
"Around that same time I had read an article where the Department of Conservation (DoC) had trialled some automatic traps and it wasn't a glowing report. I thought, I can do better than that."
There are an estimated 30 million possums in New Zealand bush across the country.
Possums not only damage native trees, nibbling on new shoots and eating their way tonnes of forest each night, but are known to eat the eggs of native birds such as kiwi and kokako.
Possums can also carry bovine tuberculosis which can infect deer and cattle.
The New Zealand Government spends around $110 million per year on possum control and possums are estimated to cost New Zealand farmers $35 million annually.
In addition, other pest species such as stoats and rats take a toll on native birdlife.
"Stoats are killing machines," says Mr Bain.
"And rats are also a huge problem for the country."
Conservation Minister Maggie Barry recently said the rat population was set to explode to "biblical proportions" in New Zealand due to warmer weather conditions.
Rats kill a reported 25 million native birds each year and cost the economy $3 billion.
Mr Bain could see existing pest traps weren't working well and saw the need for something better.
With his background as an industrial electrician and his natural curiosity and love for tinkering, he got to work in his home workshop.
"I like making things work, and work better," says Mr Bain.
Developing a better pest trap
Over the course of about 18 months Mr Bain worked on modifying a standard spring-loaded trap -the DOC200 used to kill rats and stoats - into a self-resetting pest trap.
He later adapted the same reset and release mechanism to the CMI Trapinator, used to kill possums. Adding this automatic reset and release mechanism to these standard single-set traps made them not only more effective at killing multiple pests but smarter and easier to use.
"A few early versions of the trap were not reliable, but finally, after a year or more I came up with a design that was reliable, simple and it worked," says Mr Bain.
"Testing was very important, and I did a lot of it to ensure the reset and release mechanism was going to be reliable."
His design was unique - with a battery-powered reset and a spring-loaded kill bar. Once triggered, the cam automatically rotated, pulling the bar back to its set position.
As the bar lifted the dead pest would fall to the ground.
After being triggered, or at the start of every evening, each trap automatically rebaited, ready for the next forest invader.
Unlike most other traps, Mr Bain's trap had the ability to kill multiple pests: rats, mice, stoats and possums - an advantage as people would not need to purchase multiple traps.
Mr Bains says his traps are extremely reliable and have longevity.
Each trap can continue operating, unchecked, for 12 months or more, and will be able to catch an estimated 100 predators without intervention.
This is an advantage in remote bush or farming areas, where traps are not regularly checked and emptied.
"With a traditional trap you have to revisit it and clean out the dirty old rat or possum that has been there for a few weeks, but our trap you only have to visit yearly," says Mr Bain.
Getting business advice and validation
As an inventor, Mr Bain realised it was necessary to get outside advice and support for his business idea.
In early 2016 he began working with business advisor Craig Purcell from the Business Growth Services team at Waikato Innovation Park.
The team is funded by the Regional Business Partner Network (RBPN), a central government initiative to help build business capability for growth.
Led by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise and Callaghan Innovation, the aim of the network is to support businesses that have high-growth aspirations and are also export focused, technology-driven or have innovative products or services with real commercial merit.
"At our first meeting we talked about the challenges of his business," says Mr Purcell.
"I thought it was a well-engineered solution to a problem that people have been struggling with for a long time."
They discussed the target customer, which included not only DOC and conservation groups, but farmers, large-scale landowners and iwi groups.
Mr Purcell encouraged Mr Bain to validate his trap - to test its commercial appeal by taking it to the largest agricultural show in the southern hemisphere.
Mr Bain entered his prototype in the 2016 Fieldays Innovation Awards at the New Zealand Agricultural Fieldays at the Mystery Creek Events Centre.
Against strong competition from about 70 other entries, Mr Bain's resetting pest trap won two awards: Locus Research Innovation Award (including business support for research) and the Tru-Test Prototype Grassroots Award (a cash prize of $2500).
The pest trap impressed the Fieldays Innovation Awards judges.
"We saw an innovative solution to a long-standing problem which has a significant impact on the native bush and rural environments of New Zealand."
"This innovation provides an efficient and cost effective pest control system with significant commercial potential."
Fieldays was a turning point for Mr Bain.
"It was a good psychological boost," says Mr Bain.
"It was a peg in the ground and a chance to show people what I'd done rather than keep it hidden in the cupboard."
Mr Purcell says Fieldays was extremely valuable for Mr Bain, not only for the accolades and attention, but as a place for him to validate the value and appeal of the trap.
Over the four-day event, more than 300 people expressed interest in purchasing the trap once it hit the market.
"Fieldays gave Kevin energy and provided some external validation for his business," says Mr Purcell.
"The support for innovators at Fieldays is a good example of the ecosystem of support for entrepreneurs in the Waikato region."
Forming NZ Auto Traps Ltd
After Fieldays Mr Bain's former business colleague George Campbell got in touch.
An experienced businessman, with a background in manufacturing and technical management, he had heard about Mr Bain's invention and wanted to offer his business expertise and invest.
"I was running out of steam and I needed support - not necessarily financial support, although that was an important part, but I wanted someone hands-on who had ideas," says Mr Bain.
"George rang out of the blue and it was perfect timing."
The two joined forces to form a company, NZ Auto Traps Limited.
Mr Campbell says Mr Bain is innovative and has invented a number of things over the years.
"Kevin has always had a way of looking at things differently, and a way of figuring things out," says Campbell.
Based on feedback from Fieldays, they decided to make improvements to the trap's design. This included investing in software development and the creation of a circuit board to enable users to communicate with the traps, and the traps to 'speak' to each other.
The innovative technology behind the trap takes it to a new level, and increases its commercial appeal.
"You can stand at the bottom of a bush-clad hill and dial up a trap and see if it's gone off or if there is a problem, and you can do that without climbing up through the bush," says Mr Campbell.
Research and meeting standards
The next stage was research and meeting compliance standards. All commercial pest traps in New Zealand must meet the standards of the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC), and, under the Animal Welfare Act 1999, target pest animals should be killed quickly and consistently.
A trial was planned to ensure NZ Auto Traps' traps would meet those standards and 50 traps were be placed in the field, in different land areas.
To help pay for the research, Waikato Innovation Park helped the company apply for funding to Callaghan Innovation's Project Grant.
NZ Auto Traps received co-funding for 40 per cent of the research project, which had a $93,000 total cost.
"Getting funding is a challenge to a start-up," admits Mr Purcell, who says the application process is detailed and involved, and he was pleased to be able to help NZ Auto Traps through the process.
Mr Purcell says businesses can't underestimate the importance of research and it was essential in this case.
"From a business-growth point-of-view, it's important for them to do the trials to show the traps work humanely," says Mr Purcell.
Next steps
The traps are anticipated to hit the market later this year and the potential is huge for NZ Auto Traps.
Mr Campbell estimates there are currently more than 5000 pest traps in the Coromandel region alone. These traps need to be checked and maintained on a four-week cycle to be effective.
He believes if these 5000 traps were replaced with NZ Auto Traps, the same volunteers and paid environmentalists would be able to service 10 or 12 times more traps.
"This product is a labour and time-saving device, and will be useful to DOC and other environmental agencies," says Mr Campbell.
"Regional councils, Maori trusts and large land owners will be able to use them.
"Avocado orchardists have a lot of trouble with rats. Farmers and lifestyle block owners also need a humane and effective method for managing pests. Once our trial is complete all of these people will have a need for our traps to eradicate pests."
Marketing and selling the product is the next big step for the company.
Although it is still in the early stages of development, it ticks one of the main boxes for success.
"It solves a problem - a very big problem for New Zealand," says Purcell.
"As a company they are not out of the woods yet, but if they get through this research stage it's exciting to see where they will go."