It aims to scale its financial solutions and expand its reach with more ag retailers and lenders, while driving greater adoption of climate-smart agricultural products and practices across the US, after announcing a first close of a new $25 million financing round.
Growers Edge offers financial products and data-driven tools designed to help agricultural retailers, manufacturers, and lenders reduce risks and costs for growers when adopting innovative products and practices.
Among its offerings is a Crop Plan Warranty product that allows retailers and manufacturers to offer warranty-backed crop plans that guarantee crop yields.
If crop output falls short when growers adopt new products or practices as directed, Growers Edge compensates the growers, thereby reducing financial risk and encouraging the adoption of innovative and sustainable agricultural solutions. This programme currently covers over one million acres of farmland in the US.
Another offering is Input Financing that enables agricultural retailers and manufacturers to offer their own branded digital financing programmes, helping growers affordably purchase more products and inputs.
It also provides an online mortgage processing platform that simplifies and speeds up farm real estate financing, improving loan portfolio quality for lenders.“Growers Edge is tackling one of the most critical barriers to agricultural innovation – financial risk,” said Ubben.
“Their solutions provide ag retailers, lenders, and growers with the critical tools they need to embrace sustainability at scale, creating a clear path to profitability and innovation.”
Reducing the financial risk for farmers
The company partners directly with manufacturers, retailers, and industry groups to help growers adopt innovative practices and has worked with five of the top ten largest ag retailers and leading organisations, including Nutrien, PepsiCo, Mondelez, Helena Agri-Enterprises, and The Nature Conservancy.
“Cibus is excited to invest in Growers Edge, who are leading the financial digital disruption of US agriculture with a focus on enabling sustainable farming practices,” said Alastair Cooper, Partner and Head of Venture at Cibus Capital.
“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, Principal at Lowercarbon Capital, which looks to invest in “better, faster, and cheaper” technologies that also significantly reduce carbon emissions.
“By enabling new, sustainable ag practices without the financial risk, Growers Edge is helping climate-smart farming take root.”
The investment follows several recent milestones for Growers Edge, including acquiring AQUAOSO Technologies, expanding its farmland valuation tool to over 144 million acres, and surpassing one million acres protected through its Crop Plan Warranty program.
Growers are familiar with innovative and sustainable farming practices, but they need more operational and financial support to adopt them, said Matt Hansen, CEO of Growers Edge.
“Growers Edge supports a variety of climate smart practices, including precision agriculture, no-till farming, and cover cropping. By reducing risk for ag retailers and their customers, we help scale practices that promote soil health, improve water efficiency, and lower the environmental impact of crop production.”