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\nKatie Friesen is the founder of FarmerTitan. The company\u2019s app allows farmers to make a record of their equipment and record any repairs or maintenance that are needed.<\/p>\n
The 29-year-old, who divides her time between Manitoba and Austin, Texas, is the founder of FarmerTitan. The platform allows farmers to manage their equipment and employees using QR codes and a mobile app.<\/p>\n
Friesen said instead of putting a down payment on a house, she used her savings to start a business instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s way more fun to have an app than a house,\u201d she said with a chuckle during a video call from the co-working space she uses in Austin. \u201cIt\u2019s about the joy of playing the \u2018game,\u2019 right? And the \u2018game\u2019 that I\u2019m playing right now is the game of business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Raised on a farm in Niverville, Friesen first experimented with entrepreneurship in high school when she started a summer volleyball camp for children.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved the fact that it was up to me and my initiative to push the business forward,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
After earning a degree in accounting, Friesen worked for Miami-based venture capital firm Minerva Capital Group. That led to working on the customer relations and global finance teams at Chiper, a Colombian tech company that helps digitize convenience stores in Latin America.<\/p>\n
During her time at Minerva and Chiper, Friesen says she gained a better understanding of using entrepreneurship to solve problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about the joy of playing the \u2018game,\u2019 right? And the \u2018game\u2019 that I\u2019m playing right now is the game of business.\u201d<\/p>\n
When she returned to Niverville to help with the administrative aspects of her family\u2019s farm, she experienced the challenges the farm faced \u2014 especially when it came to keeping track of equipment maintenance.<\/p>\n
That led her to create FarmerTitan, which she incorporated in June 2025.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s app allows farmers to make a record of their equipment and record any repairs or maintenance that are needed. Users can assign an urgency level to the task, add checklists and cost data, and assign the job to a specific employee.<\/p>\n
The goal, according to the company\u2019s website, is to help agricultural operations reduce preventable repairs, decrease downtime and ensure work machines are taken care of.<\/p>\n
Users pay a one-time set-up cost and then an annual subscription fee that\u2019s determined by how many pieces of equipment they are tracking.<\/p>\n
Friesen said while there are similar products on the market, FarmerTitan\u2019s ease of use sets it apart.<\/p>\n
While developing the app, she recorded her 65-year-old father using it and sent the videos to her developers so they could adjust the product to suit customers who may not be tech savvy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think part of our secret sauce is that we really, really understand the user who\u2019s using it,\u201d Friesen said.<\/p>\n
Chris Renwick can attest to that. He\u2019s the manager at Spud Plains Farms, which plants 20,000 acres of crop per season. The Carberry-based operation has 50 full-time employees year-round and at least 100 seasonal workers during peak season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s the most epic feeling in the world when you\u2019ve created something and someone buys it, because it\u2019s an admission that you solved their problem and you\u2019ve created value for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spud Plains Farms started using FarmerTitan at the end of January. Before that, keeping track of the operation\u2019s 800 pieces of equipment was difficult, Renwick said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were always behind, trying to remember to write down what got cleaned, what date it got done on and who did it,\u201d he said. \u201cNow if there\u2019s any issues throughout the season or in the wintertime when we\u2019re maintaining our equipment, it\u2019s all there at our fingertips.\u201d<\/p>\n
FarmerTitan is \u201ca really interesting solution,\u201d said Jacqueline Keena, chief executive officer at Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative (EMILI).<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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The Manitoba-based non-profit recently co-founded Agriculture Innovation, Validation and Adoption Network (AIVA), which pairs ag tech developers with farmers. AIVA is using FarmerTitan on three different farms across Canada this growing season, Keena said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re excited to see how it performs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For Friesen, the last few years have been the opening moves in a game she hopes lasts for a long time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s the most epic feeling in the world when you\u2019ve created something and someone buys it, because it\u2019s an admission that you solved their problem and you\u2019ve created value for them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Aaron Epp Aaron Epp reports on business for the Free Press. After freelancing for the paper for a decade, he joined the staff full-time in 2024. Read more about Aaron<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Aaron produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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