‘Reducing food waste and the mismatching of supply and demand’: ProducePay raises $38m to fuel global expansion

The funding will be used to accelerate growth of the business and expand worldwide.

The company aims to transform the global agricultural industry by eliminating economic and food waste. Founded by fourth-generation farmer Pablo Borquez Schwarzbeck, ProducePay aims to eliminate the economic and food waste caused by the volatile, opaque and fragmented nature of today’s global fresh produce supply chain.

Its platform offers farmers the likes of pre-season working capital, a network of growers and buyers and faster payments on invoices.

The company’s platform aims to give growers and buyers greater control of their business by providing unprecedented access to each other, as well as access to capital, trading, insights and greater supply chain visibility, it said.

The platform therefore gives growers and buyers an unprecedented level of transparency and predictability in the increasingly volatile fresh produce supply chain. Consumers receive fresher produce more efficiently, knowing it is grown and delivered in responsible ways. This “transformational approach is unlocking economic value, and creating a more sustainable global fresh produce industry”.

ProducePay was recognised as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies and the World Economic Forum’s newest Unicorn Innovators for its work strengthening the fresh produce supply chain.

The Series D round was led by Syngenta Group Ventures, the venture capital arm of agricultural giant Syngenta Group. Additional participants in the round include new investor Commonfund, as well as existing investors G2 Venture Partners, Anterra Capital, Astanor Ventures, Endeavor8, Avenue Venture Opportunities, Avenue Sustainable Solutions, and Red Bear Angels. Due to oversubscribed demand, the series D round will remain open while additional investors complete diligence.

Expansion to Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia​

ProducePay will use the latest capital to accelerate its global expansion to Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia; as well as advance the development technology and services, including Predictable Commerce Programs in partnership with leaders and innovators across the global fresh produce industry. To date, the company has supported more than $4.5 billion in fresh produce transactions globally. 

"Extreme weather events, supply shortages, and price fluctuations are just a few examples of factors contributing to the increasing volatility of the fresh produce industry,” said Patrick McCullough, chief executive officer of ProducePay.

"Our exponential growth and global scalability attracted a best-in-class group of investors who valued the company at a significant up-round from our last funding.  We appreciate their support as we take ProducePay to the next level of helping growers, marketers and retailers around the world expertly manage these volatilities to avoid disruption of their business – while reducing the massive amount of economic and food waste that impacts every touch point across the supply chain.”

Partnership with Four Star Fruit has improved efficiency and waste reduction​

The company’s latest partnership with Four Star Fruit, one of the world’s largest growers and shippers of table grapes, created a first-of-its-kind Predictable Commerce Program that has significantly improved efficiency and waste reduction across Four Star’s transactions in just the first six months.

Since the start of the partnership in March of 2023, ProducePay said the programme has enabled:

• 90% reduction in rejection rate to nearly 0%
• 31% fewer days in transit for fresh produce
• 50% fewer stops along the delivery pathway to retail
• 41% fewer days in cold storage
• A reduction of 356 tonnes of CO2e that would otherwise have been emitted from food waste.

ProducePay and its investors now aim to replicate this success across more partners, produce categories, and regions around the world.

David Pierson, Managing Director of Syngenta Group Ventures said: “ProducePay’s mission aligns closely with Syngenta’s commitment to innovation and to making agriculture more sustainable. By connecting growers from around the world with quality retailers and buyers, ProducePay is making it possible to reduce food and economic waste while giving farmers greater financial security, and we are excited by this opportunity to work closely for a stronger future in agriculture.”