The Iowa-based fintech startup helps agrifood retailers, lenders and growers offset financial risks in adopting sustainable practices. The digital toolkit includes a crop warranty plan that compensates growers should their output fall short during their transition to climate-friendly practices.
A farm mortgage financing tool uses land valuation to help lenders originate and deliver loans more quickly to farmland owners. “Farmers want what’s best for their land. But too often, the risk of trying something new means sticking with business as usual,” said Eric Helfgott of Lowercarbon Capital, which co-led the financing round with S2G Investments (formerly S2G Ventures) and Cibus Capital, a London-based sustainable food and ag investment firm.
“By enabling new, sustainable ag practices without financial risk, Growers Edge is helping climate-smart farming take root,” Helfgott said.
Agrifood investing
Growers Edge partners with Mondelez International, PepsiCo and other large retailers to drive regenerative ag practices. The company will use the injection of capital to add ag retailers and lenders in the US.
Growers Edge crop plan warranty covers one million acres of farmland, and the company’s farmland valuation tool covers over 144 million acres. The company acquired Agcor (formerly AQUAOSO) late last year to add consideration of weather and climate-related risks to its farmland valuation tool.
Other investors in the new round include Otter Creek, iSelect Fund and activist investor Jeff Ubben.
