FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, US — Bushel, an independently owned software company and provider of software technology solutions for growers, grain buyers, ag retailers, protein producers and food companies, has closed on its $47 million Series C investment round. The investment round was led by Lewis & Clark AgriFood, a St. Louis, Missouri, US-based food and agriculture focused investment firm, and Continental Grain Co., and included participation from new and existing investors, including Cargill and Scoular. Consolidated Grain and Barge Co. is expected to close its investment in the round in the coming weeks.
Bushel said the infusion of growth capital will allow for capabilities to help consumer brands sustainably source commodities in the global grain supply chain and also will be used to accelerate the company’s current product offerings.
“We are excited to invest further into Bushel alongside some of our high-value partners like Cargill and Scoular,” said Chris Abbott, co-head of Continental Grain Ventures. “Bushel is one of the leading independent software companies in agriculture, and serves as the critical link connecting growers to grain buyers, processors, brands and consumers. This funding accelerates deployment of new offerings and embedded capabilities throughout the food and ag value chain. We believe it results in better outcomes for growers and the supply chain.”
Bushel claims its platform 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.” Approximately $22 billion of grain is contracted annually within Bushel’s ecosystem, the company said.
“Bushel is here to win for our customers and their growers,” said Jake Joraanstad, chief executive officer and co-founder of Bushel. “We are here to build on the agriculture industry's century of infrastructure investment. We’re here not to disrupt but instead, to collaborate and help lead the industry into the digital age with strategies that make sense and provide value for all stakeholders in the ag and food value chain. We serve as the independent integration hub that saves businesses significant manual effort, time and expense, while also strengthening the relationships between growers and agribusinesses through secure, proven and easy to use software products and services.”
Approximately 60,000 growers use Bushel’s products and services each month, and nearly 2,000 grain buying locations across the United States and Canada utilize Bushel to power their grower-facing and internal software products. Bushel’s platform integrates into multiple grain accounting systems, trading desks, farm management systems, insurance companies and market feeds to allow different software systems to work with each other.
Cargill has committed to using the Bushel platform to power select internal and external digital tools while Scoular has been using the Bushel platform since 2018. Consolidated Grain and Barge Co. is currently exploring opportunities for utilization of Bushel’s suite of services.
Founded in 2011, Bushel’s product suite includes its flagship mobile app, websites, trading tools, market feeds, API services and a custom software division focused on agriculture.