Agrolend – a financial institution created to transform the agribusiness market for small and medium-sized farmers in Brazil by providing fast and easy credit – announced it raised $53 million in funding. Of that amount, Creation Investments (a leading global impact investor in emerging markets) made a $20 million investment in Agrolend that will help the company expand its credit offerings to industries, retailers, and farming co-operatives.
This funding round was co-led by Syngenta (a global agricultural company) and it also included Spain’s Telefónica and Brazil’s B3, represented by their respective venture capital arms, and Japan’s Norinchukin Bank, which manages approximately US$1 trillion in assets and focuses on agribusiness.
Based out of Chicago, Creation Investments has portfolio companies in several emerging market countries, including Mexico, Peru, and India. And Agrolend was created less than four years ago by entrepreneurs André Glezer, Alan Glezer, Valéria Bonadio, Leopoldo Vettor, and Carlos Fagundes. This company focuses on supporting millions of Brazilian farmers pursue leadership in global food production. With a 100% digital platform, Agrolend has the scalability to serve this large client base.
With the new equity round, Agrolend raised nearly US$100 million over the past three years and increased its capital base to approximately BRL 500 million.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are excited to welcome Creation Investments as a shareholder to help drive our growth and expansion efforts.”
-André Glezer, Agrolend’s Chief Executive Officer
“With their support, we will make tangible steps toward our ambitious goal of serving 5,000 small and medium-sized farmers across Brazil while making a positive social impact on the communities we serve.”
-Alan Glezer, Agrolend’s Chief Financial Officer
“Agrolend’s profitable and high growth credit offering to small and medium-sized farmers presents a significant opportunity to positively impact a key sector of the Brazilian economy.”
-Amadeo Ibarra, Director at Creation Investments
