August 4, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

Farmers Business Network (FBN), the pioneering direct-to-farm and farmer-to-farmer tech platform, announced it has closed on a $250 million Series F led by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. 

Existing investors who took part in this round include DBL Partners, Temasek, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., GV, Expanding Capital, and Kleiner Perkins.

Joining these existing investors were new investors Baron Capital Group, Balyasny Asset Management, Mandi Ventures, Lupa Systems, and Ron Shaich. Select funds managed by Fidelity Investments Canada ULC and affiliates also took part.

This Series F lifts FBN’s valuation to $1.75 billion, reported Bloomberg, up from a previous valuation of $1.1 billion last year.

FBN is committed to family farmers and ranchers, believing that price transparency is key to democratizing the market for farmers of all scales and geographies – believing also that transparency enhances competition within the manufacturing, wholesaling, and retailing stages of the supply chain.

Toward this goal, FBN provides timely and transparent price data on crop protection products, biologicals, seeds, technologies, and services, as well as e-commerce purchasing and financing options. These tools arm farmers with the ability to make optimal decisions for their operation, their family, and the planet.

“We created FBN to be a growers’ advocate and to allow them to use information in fundamentally new ways, which helps them to be more profitable and thrive on their land,” Charles Baron, co-founder of FBN, told GAI News in a previous interview.

FBN is also launching its emerging Crop Marketing and Financial Services (CMFS) platform to provide the most forward-leaning and sophisticated tech platforms to help farmers and ranchers manage risk, and to obtain key financial services such as loans and insurance.

CMFS is also building out capabilities regarding sustainability opportunities that are generating premiums and incentives to farmers active in progressive land stewardship.

With roots in Midwestern agriculture combined with Silicon Valley technology, together with its Farmers First® promise and its work to redefine value and convenience for farmers, FBN has drawn more than 12,000 members representing 40 million acres in the U.S., Canada, and most recently, Australia, to its network.

Through its unbiased and anonymous platform that combines technology with the highest level of agricultural knowledge, FBN is harnessing the potential of data science to create a positive impact on the farming sector and its producers.

“Our mission as a company is to improve the profitability of farming families around the world for generations to come,” said Amol Deshpande, co-founder, CEO, FBN. “Many farmers and ranchers were already struggling before the disruption and financial challenges brought on by the pandemic.”

Deshpande continued, “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 stated that it will use the capital from this round to fuel its Farmers First℠ FBN Direct℠ range of best value, direct-to-farm inputs including seed, crop protection, and biologicals with the goal of helping farmers reduce their cost of production.

The company also plans to invest in the continued building-out of its FBN Crop Marketing and Financial Services solutions platforms designed to maximize the value of crops. 

“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.

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.