Funding will be used to accelerate international growth of the business
US Agtech startup ProducePay today announced US$38 million in Series D financing. The company said it would use the funding to accelerate its global expansion to Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, and advance the development of its best-in-class technology and services.
ProducePay’s mission is to transform the global agricultural industry by eliminating economic and food waste. Its Predictable Commerce Platform is designed to provide greater transparency and predictability to growers and buyers in the increasingly volatile fresh produce supply chain. To date, the company has supported more than US$4.5bn in fresh produce transactions globally.
This latest funding round was led by Syngenta Group Ventures, the venture capital arm of Syngenta Group, and included new investor CF Private Equity, as well as existing investors G2 Venture Partners, Anterra Capital, Astanor Ventures, Endeavor8, Avenue Venture Opportunities, Avenue Sustainable Solutions, and Red Bear Angels. Due to oversubscribed demand, the series D round will remain open while additional investors complete diligence.
“Extreme weather events, supply shortages, and price fluctuations are just a few examples of factors contributing to the increasing volatility of the fresh produce industry,” said CEO Patrick McCullough.
“Our exponential growth and global scalability attracted a best-in-class group of investors who valued the company at a significant up-round from our last funding.
“We appreciate their support as we take ProducePay to the next level of helping growers, marketers and retailers around the world expertly manage these volatilities to avoid disruption of their business – while reducing the massive amount of economic and food waste that impacts every touch point across the supply chain.”
ProducePay recently partnered with Four Star Fruit, one of North America’s largest growers and shippers of table grapes, creating a first-of-its-kind Predictable Commerce Program to improve efficiency and reduce waste.
Since the start of the partnership in July 2023, ProducePay said the program has enabled a 90 per cent reduction in rejection rate to nearly 0 per cent; 31 per cent fewer days in transit for fresh produce; 50 per cent fewer stops along the delivery pathway to retail; 41 per cent fewer days in coldstorage and a reduction of 356 tonnes of CO2 that would otherwise have been emitted from food waste.
Together with its investors, the company wants to replicate this success across more partners, more produce categories, and more regions around the world.
David Pierson, managing director of Syngenta Group Ventures said: “ProducePay’s mission aligns closely with Syngenta’s commitment to innovation and to making agriculture more sustainable.
“By connecting growers from around the world with quality retailers and buyers, ProducePay is making it possible to reduce food and economic waste while giving farmers greater financial security, and we are excited by this opportunity to work closely for a stronger future in agriculture.”
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