Argentine startup Agrofy reaps investment for US$23 million

Contxto – Agrotech Agrofy is growing places (ha!) following its recent Series B worth US$23 million. The investment round for this Argentine startup was led by SP Ventures and was joined by Fall Line Capital and ACRE Capital. 

The agrotech will use these fresh funds to add a billing platform onto its website. By adding this new feature, Agrofy aims to offer a more end-to-end solution to its users for its e-commerce site.

SP Ventures had previously participated in the startup’s Series A for US$11 million alongside Syngenta Ventures and Bunge Ventures.

E-commerce and agrotech

When it comes to startups from Argentina, Buenos Aires is often top of the mention list. However, Agrofy is located in Rosario, a major agricultural hub in the country. 

From there, it offers a platform for vendors to sell fertilizers, machinery, and all things useful for agriculture-related businesses. Alejandro Larosa and Maximiliano Landrein founded Agrofy in 2015, which currently operates in nine Latin American countries.

And interestingly enough, Agrofy’s primary customers aren’t even within its native country, but rather Argentina’s biggest neighboring country. Needless to say. Brazil is the region’s biggest player when it comes to agriculture and farming. Likewise at Agrofy, this translates to this Latin American titan making up 60 percent of its operations.

For the startup the ultimate goal is to be the “Mercado Libre of agribusiness.”

Related article: BASF Venture Capital invests US$4 million for agrotech startups in Brazil, Latin America

Budding growth

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), overall food production in Latin America has increased over the last 20 years.

Moreover, a crucial part of this growth is due to innovation and public investment in research and development (R&D). These institutions also report that cooperation with the private sector has played “a key role” in productivity.

Now, considering that startups specializing in farming and agriculture in Latin America are still in a budding stage (no agrotech unicorns yet), I am led to believe that there’s still even more room to grow. 

So long as startups, venture capital companies, and regulators stay in synch.

-ML