44% of the world’s supply of wheat, sunflower and rye comes from Ukraine, so the war is causing supply chain disruptions around the world, creating a huge secondary wave of volatility across the industry that threatens the survival of many critical parts of the supply chain, according to fintech company Stable, which helps farmers manage risk.
Stable, ‘home of hedging’ for the $5 trillion agricultural commodity industry, has announced a $60m Series B investment.
Helping farmers manage risk
Stable CEO Rich Counsell, the son of a Somerset farmer, founded Stable to help farming businesses – who tend to be shut out of the futures market – to manage their risk (or “hedge”) against challenging price fluctuations in the supply chain.
Stable uses data science to manage risk against price rises. Clients customise a contract to insure themselves against volatile prices and pay-outs are automated. Most businesses are shut out of ‘hedging’ because it is too expensive or inaccessible, but this democratises it.
Rich’s vision is to make hedging simple and accessible, and the business has grown rapidly. It now lists over 500 untraded commodities that can be hedged on the platform with diverse clients ranging from multinational food and drink companies to family farms across the Americas.
The $60m Series B funding round, led by Acrew, has notable investors including Greycroft, Notion Capital, Syngenta and Continental Grain. The latest funding round will enable Stable to expand as a British business going global. The company already operates in NYC, Chicago, London, Singapore and Bermuda.
Rich says: “We’re really proud to partner with Acrew, Notion, Greycroft and all of our shareholders as we accelerate our plans to make a real impact in this vital sector and warmly welcome Vishal Lugani (of Acrew Capital) to the Board.”
The company is on track to transfer $1bn of risk by 2025 from the food and farming industry to reinsurance and capital market partners.
“After years of R&D and dreaming of making a real difference to our industry, I feel incredibly privileged to lead this diverse and talented team of people who are making it happen. It’s a big moment for us as a team, but Stable has barely gotten started when it comes to the role we can play in the future of our industry,” says Counsell.