August 29, 2018

Open Prairie has made its second investment in a week’s time through its Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund, providing $2 million in convertible debt financing to ag-focused data analytics company MyAgData®.

Headquartered in Effingham, Illinois, MyAgData is the developer of a pioneering acreage reporting solution in the form of a revolutionary cloud-based platform that allows for the collection of layers of geospatial data from precision ag technologies present in today’s farm equipment. The company is also able to simplify the reporting process for crop insurance and the USDA while also increasing traceability along the food supply chain. By integrating agricultural production data and then facilitating the management of said data, MyAgData then transmits results to any stakeholder authorized by the farmer, saving significant time over traditional manual reporting.

“MyAgData has developed a robust platform that implements efficiencies that lead to increased profitability for producers,” said Jason Wrone, partner, Open Prairie. “With only 5 percent of acreage reporting currently being done electronically and initiatives underway to increase adoption to greater than 90 percent within the next five years, Open Prairie is eager to begin leveraging its network and expertise to facilitate the next phase of expansion for MyAgData.”

A Busy Week

This is the second announcement made within a week’s time by Open Prairie in regard to its Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund.

On August 17, GAI News shared the fund’s maiden investment, a $5.2 million commitment to Tillerman Seeds, a Michigan-based seed company focused on non-GMO product lines.

Upon the fund’s launch in 2016, Open Prairie partner and vice president Jason Wrone said in a USDA press release “We live, breathe and believe strongly in rural America and are pleased to be working with USDA, the Farm Credit System, and other entities that share our passion for building successful companies that have a meaningful impact on their respective business sectors and the communities in which they do business.”

Concurrently, the fund also announced a successful first close on $55 million in commitments led by institutions within the Farm Credit System, family offices, commercial and community banks, farm organizations, and individual agricultural investors. Of this total, CoBank has committed $7.5 million.  

With a target of $100 million, the Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund was established as a vehicle geared to capitalize upon global macro trends including projected world population growth to 9 billion; a 70 percent increase in caloric demand; and crop demand growth of more than 100 percent by 2050.

Within this framework, the fund is structured as a balanced private equity vehicle offering debt and equity capital of between $2 million and $10 million to growth and later-stage companies within the food and agribusiness value chain.

Seeking Scale

With the capital provided them by Open Prairie, MyAgData states that it intends to scale up its technology infrastructure, expand its sales and marketing teams, and pursue the accelerated adoption of the MyAgData platform.

In conjunction with the funding, Jason Wrone will join the MyAgData Board of Directors.

“We are thrilled with the opportunity to collaborate with Open Prairie. They have a wealth of experience, knowledge and insight in agriculture,” said MyAgData CEO Deb Casurella. “This arrangement will help us position MyAgData® for the explosive growth predicted for electronic reporting.”

-Lynda Kiernan