February 14, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan

Sydney-based Cornerstone Growth Capital has invested A$6 million (US$4 million) in AgriChain, the largest supply chain software company in Australia. 

Founded in 2014, Cornerstone Growth managing partner Christian Oey describes AgriChain as “one of the most exciting prospects he has seen in the agriculture space in some time.”

Offering automation along the entire chain, AgriChain provides modules for farmers needing grain storage, logistics companies needing to plan and track their fleet, as well as modules for grain traders and brokers, storage operators, processors such as flour mills, and end users such as feedlots.

The company automates the entire delivery process, ensuring data is collected and time stamped at each point along the supply chain. All engaged parties are then notified in real time, ensuring improved productivity and increased transparency through the better management of stock and freight orders with the elimination of manual paperwork.

“The end result for our customers is improving their bottom line by conducting business on one simple platform,” said Caile Ditterich, CEO, AgriChain. 

“We’re always on the lookout for disrupters in the agri sector,” commented Oey. “Sadly, agriculture has always been an underdog and we forget the pivotal role it plays in our lives. If we can find ways to make this sector work more efficiently with better transparency, the better off we will be.”

“And for us, AgriChain ticks all these boxes. Its unique platform is one of the first we’ve seen in the world where it increases efficiency and transparency throughout the agricultural supply chain, connecting all stakeholders on one platform, and solving the problem of what is to date a fragmented supply chain.” 

The Grain Chain

Capital and collaboration have increasingly been being committed to bring automation and technology to play to improve grain supply chains.

In October 2018, ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus, the four global behemoth agribusinesses known as the A-B-C-D’s, announced their partnership to pursue ways to use technology to digitize and standardize the global agricultural commodity value chain.

As an initial goal, the four companies will focus on technologies that work to automate grain and oilseed processes that occur post-trade, as these are often the most manual and high-cost points of the supply chain. This first step will work to shorten document processing lead times, reduce wait times, and improve end-to-end contract visibility.

Longer vision goals include a more digital-based approach that will eliminate other manual and paper-based processes having to do with contracts, invoices, and payments to create greater reliability, transparency, and efficiency.

Two months later in December 2018, Overstock.com’s blockchain accelerator and investment platform Medici Ventures made an equity investment of $2.5 million in GrainChain, an agricultural blockchain software platform designed to facilitate ease and security for payments to farmers, buyers, and elevators engaged in the grain industry.

“Agriculture is the backbone of our global civilization, but producers operate on razor-thin margins and are up against a host of factors far beyond their control,” said Jonathan Johnson, president of Medici Ventures at the time.

However, one of the more high-profile platforms to be launched is from Indigo Ag, which in January of this year announced it had raised another $200 million to support, in part, Indigo Grain Marketplace. 

Launched in September 2018, Indigo Grain Marketplace is a digital platform designed to connect farmers directly to buyers, allowing them to transact for commodity crops at no cost. Buyers also are able to source grain with specific factors in mind, such as protein content, variety, milling quality, organic, non-GMO, or rain-fed, and in turn, farmers will be able to price their grain based on its identifying factors of their crop and how it was produced. Furthermore, Indigo facilitates grain quality testing, transportation, and payment through the platform.

Since its launch, $300 million worth of bids have been placed through the Marketplace, and during the second half of 2019, the platform saw month-over-month transaction growth of between 50 and 100 percent.

As a player in this rapidly growing category, AgriChain stated it plans to use the funds secured from Cornerstone to ensure the ongoing support of its expanding customer base, to grow its team over the next six months, and to attract key industry leaders to its management team.

“We have our eyes set on head hunting a number of strategic leaders who we feel will help AgriChain continue to move in the right direction, to what will undoubtedly be a promising and dynamic future,” said Ditterich.

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.