Project Voxel is an agri-tech company transforming the way crops are monitored and managed. At its core is co-founder Hamish Haddow, whose journey spans corporate finance, product design, and now precision agriculture. Together with his long-time friend and co-founder Maadhav, Hamish has built a platform that analyses crop imagery to deliver actionable insights, helping growers detect stress early, act faster, and improve yields.
The idea sprouted from family vineyards in New Zealand, where Maadhav trialled hyperspectral imaging on vines. Early success quickly grew into a wave of interest from neighbouring growers, highlighting the need for scalable, crop-agnostic tools.
For Hamish, the journey from London finance to Edinburgh startups was accelerated by Techscaler, delivered by CodeBase on behalf of the Scottish Government. Joining Techscaler Catalyst gave him both structure and confidence, helping him test and refine ideas, and ultimately laying the foundations for Project Voxel.
This is a case study on experimentation, collaboration, and building global agricultural solutions with the right ecosystem support.
The seeds of Project Voxel were planted years ago, when Maadhav experimented with imaging technology on his parents’ vineyard in Marlborough, New Zealand. By scanning crops non-invasively, he and his father uncovered early signs of stress and improved yields. What started as a hobby project soon attracted interest from neighbouring growers.
At the same time, Hamish and Maadhav, friends since their Bradford University days, had been exploring imaging applications across industries. With Hamish’s background in finance, product, and marketing, and Maadhav’s expertise in data science and chemistry, the pair realised they had complementary skills to scale a new solution. Together, they founded Project Voxel to make precision agriculture accessible worldwide.
Before joining Techscaler, Hamish faced the familiar hurdles of an early-stage founder. While confident in his creative instincts and commercial experience, he needed the structure and community to turn ideas into action. Running initial ventures solo, he found investor conversations difficult, internationalisation uncertain, and access to trusted peers limited.
Project Voxel’s potential was clear, but Hamish recognised the need for guidance, frameworks, and validation to build something lasting. Techscaler offered the environment to experiment, learn, and gain confidence before committing to external capital and scaling globally.
For Hamish, joining Techscaler’s Catalyst programme was about de-risking the journey. The structured approach gave him clarity on fundamentals: company setup, registration, product framing, and validation. By testing his first business idea within the programme, he quickly understood how to move from concept to execution.
More than process, it provided something harder to define: confidence. Entering Techscaler with uncertainty, Hamish left with practical tools and the assurance that he could apply lessons directly to future ventures. When Project Voxel was born, those foundations meant decisions could be made faster, opportunities seized earlier, and investor conversations navigated with greater ease.
Techscaler’s impact didn’t stop with confidence; it extended into practical leverage.
Through clear signposting of Scotland’s ecosystem, Hamish accessed resources, networks, and peer founders who shared insights and challenges openly. Exposure to a wide variety of entrepreneurial approaches helped him see multiple ways to grow.
For Project Voxel, this meant moving fast: registering in May, joining accelerators by July, and attracting venture capital by September. While the business evolved beyond Hamish’s initial solo idea, Techscaler provided the scaffolding to make that pivot successful.
Crucially, it also normalised resilience. As Hamish notes, programmes don’t guarantee selection for every next step, but they provide the momentum, frameworks, and self-motivation founders need to continue building.
Post-Techscaler, Hamish and Maadhav moved quickly to formalise Project Voxel. Within three months, they had registered the company, secured a place on Geovation, and attracted venture funding. The groundwork laid through Techscaler meant they could act decisively, with confidence in their approach.
Since then, Project Voxel’s trajectory has been steep. Their imaging platform has already attracted strong interest across the UK and New Zealand, drawing attention from growers of vineyards, timber, and high-value crops. Discussions with agronomy groups and hardware manufacturers are opening global pathways, while academic collaborations add depth to their product development.
For Hamish, the lesson has been that scaling doesn’t come from a single breakthrough; it’s the steady assembly of pieces: credibility, partnerships, investor trust, and lived resilience. What began with vineyard trials is now a globally relevant agri-tech platform, built on speed, structure, and founder tenacity.
Techscaler, delivered by CodeBase, provided more than early-stage training; it delivered confidence, structure, and community. For Hamish, it was the catalyst that transformed experimentation into execution. The programme helped him pivot from testing ideas solo to co-founding a globally relevant agri-tech company.
For other founders, his advice is simple: carve out the time and give it a go. Whether or not your first idea is the right one, Techscaler equips you with tools to keep building. Learn more about Project Voxel.
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