6 Agri Tech platforms helping farmers access finance in Europe

By Gloria Methri

Across the world, advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain, remote sensing, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), multispectral images, cloud computing systems, etc. have played a significant role in increasing agricultural yield by deploying fewer resources. All these tools have equipped the farming community in planning and predict the production cycle with greater accuracy.

Agricultural innovation has also attracted heavy investment from tech companies that are helping farmers achieve their financial goals. In 2022, investors poured $1.4 billion into the agricultural sector, according to Dealroom data. In 2021 alone, just a portion of the global Agri Tech start-up ecosystem secured $12.23 billion in investments, marking a 410% increase from 2017.

Here is a list of six platforms that are helping farmers to access finance:

• MiiMOSA

MiiMOSA is a digital crowdfunding platform for agricultural projects. The platform helps small agribusinesses and farmers who want to set up new projects or scale up their operations and allows agriculture enthusiasts to donate to these projects. The platform pledges to return the user’s contribution if the project does not achieve even 60% of its set fundraising target.

• Lande Finance

Latvia-based Lande Finance is a peer-to-peer lending platform specialising in agricultural finance. It allows European investors, including those from the UK, to lend loans to small- and medium-sized farmers, that are secured against collateral such as land, grain, or machinery. The platform provides finance to Europe’s farmers, while offering investors sensible portfolio diversification and returns of up to 13 percent.

• Agreena

Agreena harnesses the power of soil carbon removals and natural capital to finance the transition to regenerative agriculture. Working in close collaboration with partner farmers across 16 European markets, AgreenaCarbon is one of the leading soil carbon platforms. Its solutions can support farmers, companies, and governments on the road to net zero.

• HeavyFinance

HeavyFinance connects small and medium farmers with a global investor community. It is a marketplace to invest in mortgage loans to help businesses in farming, forestry, and infrastructure. HeavyFinance works with a French company Lemonway that holds money at BNP Paribas – the largest European bank.

• Oxbury Bank

Oxbury is the UK’s specialist agricultural bank focusing on British farmers. The Agri Tech provides farmers with the lending that they need to run their farms and provides savings accounts to any individual or business that wants to back British farmers and UK agriculture.

• Pula

Pula is agricultural insurance to protect smallholders worldwide. With the help of technology and parametric insurance, the company insures the previously unbanked, uninsured, untapped market of 1.5 billion smallholders. Since starting in 2015, Pula’s products have impacted over 4.9 million smallholder farmers.

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