Tarfin, the agriculture fintech startup based in Turkey, on Monday (21 September 2020) has secured $5 million in a Series A funding round, led by Quona Capital (a global fintech-focused fund), Elevator Ventures (Raiffeisen Bank’s venture capital fund), Syngenta Ventures, and the Collective Spark Fund, with participation from Wamda.
Both Collective Spark and Wamda are returning investors since Tarfin raised a $1.3 million seed investment from both in 2018.
The company is aiming to utilise the fresh capital to strengthen its investments in data science, mobile technology, and its team to ultimately reach more farmers in Turkey and Eastern Europe.
Founded in 2017 by Mehmet Memecan, Tarfin provides farmers with access to agricultural inputs at affordable prices and payment terms by combining traditional supply channels, technology, and financial resources.
Tarfin, with its machine learning based agricultural risk scoring model, ensures that farmers reach all the agricultural inputs needed today with reasonable prices and extended payment terms. Tens of thousands of farmers reduce input costs by shopping for their inputs at Tarfin’s more than 240 partner sales points. Tarfin aims to combine the entire process from product price comparison to purchase in its new mobile application, and continues to provide services to more farmers by using its technological infrastructure and wide sales network.
Speaking of the development for Tarfin, Mehmet Memecan, founder and general manager of Tarfin, in a statement said,
“The pandemic that changed the balance of the period we live in has once again revealed the importance of agriculture. As Tarfin, we have always made it a mission to find new solutions for our farmers. Our farmers are devoted to ensuring the continuity of production. As the private sector, every step we take for our farmers today will bring a stronger economy, a healthier future and a more sustainable production tomorrow. Thank you to our new partners who support the sustainability of agriculture.”
