- Farmer’s Business Network — a leading direct-to-farm ag tech platform and farmer network — announced the closing of $250 million in Series F funding. And the valuation with this funding round is reportedly $1.75 billion.
Farmer’s Business Network — a leading direct-to-farm ag tech platform and farmer network — announced the closing of $250 million in Series F funding. This round of funding was led by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock Inc. with participation from new investors Baron Capital Group, Balyasny Asset Management LP, Mandi Ventures, Lupa Systems, and Ron Shaich. And the funding round reportedly values the company at $1.75 billion, according to Bloomberg’s sources.
Existing investors DBL Partners, Temasek, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., GV, Expanding Capital, and Kleiner Perkins participated in the funding round. And certain funds managed by Fidelity Investments Canada ULC and affiliates also joined the round.
FBN will use the funding to expand its Farmers First℠ FBN Direct range of best value, direct-to-farm inputs, including seed, crop protection and biologicals — which help farmers reduce their cost of production. And it will also invest in continuing to build out its suite of cutting-edge FBN Crop Marketing and Financial Services solutions that help farmers maximize the value of their crops.
“Our mission as a company is to improve the profitability of farming families around the world for generations to come. Many farmers and ranchers were already struggling before the disruption and financial challenges brought on by the pandemic,” said FBN Co-Founder and CEO Amol Deshpande. “We will double down on putting farmers first by further investing in technologies that lower costs, improve transparency and create local community development opportunities in rural areas.”
FBN is known as an advocate for family farmers and ranchers and is committed to the premise that true price transparency levels the playing field for farmers and also enhances competition at the manufacturing, wholesaling, and retailing level.
By providing timely and transparent pricing on crop protection products, biologicals, seeds, technology and services as well as ecommerce purchasing and financing options, FBN provides farmers with the tools they need for making the best decisions for their business.
FBN’s emerging Crop Marketing and Financial Services (CMFS) platform helps manage risk or get key financial services like insurance or loans. The CMFS platform is also building robust capabilities around sustainability opportunities that are already resulting in premiums and incentives for farmers who participate in land stewardship.
And FBN continues to grow its membership and now has over 12,000 members who farm over 40 million acres across the US and Canada. Last month, FBN announced the launch of FBN in Australia following the acquisition of Farmsave, a leading Australian ag tech company.
“We intend to work with our farmer customers globally to help bring more products and services to market that benefit their P&L, as well as the communities around them,” said Deshpande.
