In-Ovo Sexing Quarterly Roundup: Q2 2026
Welcome to Innovate Animal Ag's Q2 2026 in-ovo sexing roundup, where we dive into the latest news for the technology and what it means for consumers and producers.
In-ovo sexing arrives in Australia - In May 2026, the largest hatchery in Australia, Specialised Breeders Australia (SBA), announced they installed a Cheggy machine in their hatchery. This makes Australia the first country in the Asia Pacific region to adopt in-ovo sexing, providing a new sexing option for the country’s 24 million bird layer flock. Eugene Viljoen, CEO of SBA, commented: "As Australia's market-leading supplier of commercial layer genetics, we are investing in innovations that support the long-term needs of egg producers: our belief is that Australian producers deserve access to the best technology the world has to offer and should be able to produce new products in response to changing consumer expectations."
In-ovo sexed chicks became available June 1, 2026, and carry the “Certified Humane” certification. Egg producers like McLean Farms (a Queensland-based producer with over 2 million layers) have already begun purchasing in-ovo sexed chicks. Australia is a promising market for in-ovo sexing due to its developed specialty egg market. According to industry group Australian Eggs, free-range eggs make up over half of the country’s retail egg sales. IAA previously conducted an Australian consumer survey on in-ovo sexing and found that 84% of Australian consumers were interested in purchasing in-ovo sexed eggs.
Workers at the Specialised Breeders Australia hatchery standing in front of the newly installed Cheggy
Omegga closes a €10M seed round - Omegga, a Munich-based in-ovo sexing startup, announced in May that they had closed a €10M seed round with investments from IQ Capital and Capnamic. “With this funding, we'll scale deployments with hatcheries globally, expand the platform into new application areas, and double the team over the coming year.” the company wrote in a LinkedIn post. The company’s most prominent installation is in the Gut Averfeld hatchery in Germany. Omegga manufactures a spectroscopy-based in-ovo sexing machine that can be installed directly inside an incubator, saving space inside a hatchery.
NestFresh finishes brand-wide transition to in-ovo sexing - US egg producer NestFresh announced in June that 100% of its laying flock is now in-ovo sexed birds. The specialty producer made headlines last year as the first American brand to bring in-ovo sexed eggs to market with its Humanely Hatched product line. Since the company began transitioning its flock in 2025, it has in-ovo sexed over 800,000 chicks.
"This is a defining milestone not only for NestFresh, but for the future of the egg industry," said Jasen Urena, Vice President of NestFresh. "We set out to prove that humane innovation could work at scale, and completing this transition ahead of schedule shows what's possible when a passion for animal welfare, technology, and the voice of consumers come together."
In related news, NestFresh recently announced that it is expanding its in-ovo sexing program to cover all of its egg brands, including Country Hen and New Barn Organics.
MatrixSpec announces partnership to commercialize the HyperEye - In June, Canadian technology company MatrixSpec Solutions announced a new strategic partnership with Sanovo Technologies for a global commercial launch of their HyperEye in-ovo sexing machine. MatrixSpec first introduced the HyperEye in January 2025, but this partnership is a significant step in getting it ready for global commercialization. MatrixSpec claims their machine uses a combination of hyperspectral imaging and artificial intelligence to non-invasively sex both white and brown embryos by day four of incubation. The ability to sex white layers early into incubation would be a significant technological advantage over existing solutions. That said, the company hasn’t shared details about how their technology works or how close it is to commercial readiness.
IAA joins in-ovo sexing panel at PEAK 2026 - In April, IAA participated in an in-ovo sexing panel at the 2026 PEAK poultry conference held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The panel was moderated by Greg Schoenfeld, host of the Eggheads podcast, and was focused on considerations for the technology’s rollout in the US. You can listen to a recording of the conversation here.
The panel included:
Casey Downey - Innovate Animal Ag
Juliana Machado - Hendrix-Genetics
Larry Sadler - United Egg Producers
Nancy Roulston - ASPCA
The panel was a success, generating a lively discussion and becoming the most-attended event of the conference. Thanks for having us, PEAK!
Hitachi announces development of Japanese in-ovo sexing technology - Japanese company Hitachi Solutions Create (HSC) announced it is developing its own spectroscopic in-ovo sexing technology. HSC, an IT services subsidiary of the Hitachi Group, is developing the machine in partnership with National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), a food research lab within the Japanese government. Early research suggests the machine can sex embryos on day 3 with high accuracy, although this has yet to be demonstrated at commercial scale. HSC is currently trying to commercialize its technology through partnerships in the egg industry. This isn’t the first time Japan has shown interest in in-ovo sexing; in 2024, Japan’s National Agriculture and Food Research Organization made a ¥500mm (~$3mm) investment into research for in-ovo sexing technologies.
Chart of swine carcass weight from June’s Pork Industry Executive Chartbook
Chartbooks from IAA - In addition to our egg industry chartbook, we are excited to announce the launch of our new chartbook for pork producers. You can view it and subscribe to it here: Pork Chartbook - June 2026. Just like our egg chartbook, this new book shares appealing, regularly updated charts with statistics about US pork production. It is the fastest way to stay up to date on trends affecting the industry. You can also view and subscribe to our egg industry chartbook here.
For more detailed information on in-ovo sexing technologies and their impact on the poultry industry, visit our In-Ovo Sexing Overview.
