From side hustle to startup

Like many startup founders, brothers Hamish and Brent Vollebregt’s venture Volly Solutions was a product of necessity. In their case, their parents needed an accurate paddock map of their family farm. 

The brothers took aerial drone pictures of the farm and merged them, from which they drew a digital map. Then, they offered the same process to others in the area as a side hustle as Hamish finished his engineering degree. That was September 2021. 

“It was a bit of fun, and it’s just grown from there,” says Hamish, who has recently moved full-time to the business.

In the last few years, Volly Solutions has evolved beyond its origins, offering farm mapping, aerial imagery and other drone-based services, as well as digital farm solutions. While there are other players in the market, the Vollebregt brothers see a gap for a sleeker, more efficient and economical product. 

Given the brothers’ technological bent, it’s no surprise they have projects in the pipeline they believe will help the agriculture and horticulture industry in New Zealand and abroad. 

With this growth in mind, the brothers recognised they needed guidance around running a startup as well as connections to a broader audience. When they came across Startup Aotearoa on LinkedIn, they signed up immediately. 

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Getting stuck in

Through Startup Aotearoa the Vollebregts were paired with Anna Devcich. 

Devcich, who has been with Waikato business support hub Soda for ten years, manages the Soda team and oversees all its initiatives, including the Regional Business Partner programme, RISE UP, and Startup Aotearoa. 

After reviewing the Volly Solutions business canvas and drilling into the challenges the company faced, Devcich says it was apparent the business was doing well but needed industry connections and marketing support. She was able to point the brothers to workshops in the Waikato area and tapped into her network to set up three introductions with three different local councils. Local government authorities don’t typically meet with startup founders, she says, so the meetings were different but “super helpful”. 

“They were able to say, ‘these are the businesses in our area, here’s what they’re looking for’ and ‘this is what we need for the councils, maybe you can adapt some of your services towards that’,” Devcich says. 

The meetings were much appreciated by the Vollebregts as previously the business had largely relied on word-of-mouth from farmers. 

“We found over half our clients have come from a farmer reference, which is awesome for us; it tells us we're doing something right,” Hamish says. 

The brothers have been trying to crack larger organisations for a while but have found it hard to connect with the right people. The contacts provided by Devcich definitely made a difference for Volly Solutions, Hamish says. 

A good network in life and in business is a high priority for Hamish who is a big believer in getting out and talking to people, even when it’s hard.  

“I've definitely met a lot of influential people in the New Zealand agriculture space by just having a conversation or an introduction.

“The worst outcome you're going to get is ‘no, I don’t want to talk to you’.” 

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‍Mentor gains

Despite years in the startup space mentoring in this capacity is new to Devcich, who says she is enjoying getting into the nitty gritty with the founders. 

“From just being in the industry, I probably learned more than I thought I knew,” she says. 

And where she finds knowledge gaps, she turns to Soda colleague Kate Wightman – another mentor for Startup Aotearoa. 

“She’s really experienced in this area, so I always refer back to her just to say, ‘Is there anything else that you would suggest?’” Devcich explains. 

She recommends the Startup Aotearoa programme for anyone early in their journey who is interested in growing their startup. 

The more people you talk to and the more clearly you’re able to articulate and validate your vision, the better, she says. “Maybe you’ll learn something you haven’t considered before.” 

Hamish agrees: “There’s nothing to lose, that’s the biggest thing.” 

He says Devcich has helped Volly Solutions on its way and plans to keep talking to her going forward. 

“We’ll let her know what’s going on and see if she can help us in other ways if we have other ideas on what we want to do.”

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This story was brought to you by Startup Aotearoa.‍

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