The Andersons, Inc. and Consolidated Grain and Barge Company join investors from the grain trade
FARGO, N.D., July 14, 2021 – Bushel, an independently owned software company, announced today the final close of its $47 million Series C investment round with the addition of The Andersons, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANDE) and Consolidated Grain and Barge Co. (CGB) to the roster of investors. The Andersons and CGB join Cargill, Scoular, Continental Grain Company, Lewis & Clark AgriFood, Germin8 Ventures and others that are investing in the leading provider of software technology solutions for growers, grain buyers, ag retailers, protein producers and food companies. The collaboration of strategic grain corporations supports a standardization of data management within the grain trade. All corporate investors hold minority stakes within Bushel.
“The investment into Bushel is not just about investing in a technology company. It is about leaders in the ag industry developing a standardized platform from which we can proactively meet the needs of our evolving producers,” said Bill Krueger, President, The Andersons Trade and Processing. “Bushel’s data standardization and producer tools will allow The Andersons to continue to offer innovative solutions and extraordinary service to producers and merchants all along the supply chain.”
In addition to the strategic investments, all of the grain corporations are committed to deploying Bushel’s platform in some capacity. The deployment of Bushel’s platform into their organizations will help them nurture grower relationships, make more data-driven decisions and improve speed of transactions from many of the paper-based processes within grain trading today.
The infusion of growth capital and continued partnership of the syndicate will introduce payments, credit, trading offerings and new data services, including capabilities to help consumer brands sustainably source commodities in the global grain supply chain. One recent product release includes Bushel FulfillmentTM, a new product to help commercial grain sellers automatically exchange scale ticket information and eliminate the hassle of manually entering scale ticket information into an accounting program.
“One of our strategic initiatives is to invest in technology that partners with the right strategic players so the entire agricultural industry is elevated,” said Greg Beck, Senior Vice President, CGB. “Bushel has the forward-thinking mindset to be progressive in the digital transformation of grain trade here in the U.S. and abroad. As a company with strong origination interests, we need to make financial transactions throughout the supply chain seamless and timely, and we believe Bushel is the company that can help us get there.”
In June, Bushel announced the acquisition of FarmLogs and introduced Bushel PassportTM to ease enrollment and automate verification of programs such as identity preservation, crop insurance and sustainability. Bushel’s collaborative ethos will continue to accelerate adding new participants throughout the value chain, particularly CPGs and consumer brands, that will benefit from upstream and midstream data insights and help deliver on sustainability promises.
“This collaboration within the grain industry gives Bushel the opportunity to remain as an independent company focused on bringing the industry forward,” said Jake Joraanstad, CEO and co-founder of Bushel. “All of our investors and partners have decades of experience that we want to build upon, not disrupt. Our platform can provide properly-permissioned data points and integrations in a secure way to propel the agricultural supply chain forward.”
Learn more:
To learn more about how Bushel works, view demo videos, read testimonials from customers or to get started, visit bushelpowered.com.
About Bushel
Bushel is an independently owned software company and leading provider of software technology solutions for growers, grain buyers, ag retailers, protein producers and food companies, headquartered in Fargo, N.D. Since launching in 2017, Bushel’s platform has grown rapidly, now powering nearly 2,000 grain facilities across the U.S. and Canada with real-time business information for their producers. Bushel’s platform now reaches 40% of grain origination in the United States, resulting in inarguably the largest technology network effect among growers and grain buyers in the U.S. today. $22 billion of grain is contracted annually within Bushel’s ecosystem. Bushel’s product suite includes its flagship mobile app, websites, trading tools, market feeds, API services and a custom software division focused on agriculture. Bushel has been focused on building software since the company was founded in 2011. Data privacy is a cornerstone of Bushel’s philosophy. Read here Bushel’s Data Ethos.