Next Level Ventures Announces Investment in FarmlandFinder's $3 Million Round
Des Moines, Iowa, December 9, 2019? – FarmlandFinder, a digital toolset for farmland professionals, has raised a $3 million Series Seed funding round. Next Level Ventures and Farm Bureau’s Rural Vitality Fund participated in the raise alongside Cultivian Sandbox, a Chicago-based venture capital firm.
FarmlandFinder offers simple, easy-to-use market intelligence and data management tools to farmland professionals, including landowners, brokers, appraisers, ag lenders and land investment firms. This digital suite of tools gives farmland professionals access to the most complete and up-to-date farmland market data in the Midwest as well as analytical tools to help make informed decisions and operate more efficiently.
“Each year $56 billion of farmland exchanges ownership, and most of this is done entirely offline with very little access to data or real-time information,” said FarmlandFinder Founder and CEO Steven Brockshus. “We’re increasing transparency in a traditionally opaque industry, which helps to level the playing field and drive efficiency. Through a data-rich platform, we’re able to help buyers, sellers and land professionals make informed decisions in a fraction of the time.”
Brockshus has been very involved in agriculture, having grown up on a 5th generation family farm in Iowa and later serving as a National FFA Officer. The idea for FarmlandFinder came from a farmland auction which Brockshus attended with his father, and he saw first-hand how little information was available. Brockshus reflected on that day: “Buying or selling a farm is one of the biggest decisions a landowner makes and they have very little access to real-time information to help them make an informed choice. At FarmlandFinder, we are leveraging technology to give them more power when making that decision.”
FarmlandFinder will use the funding to expand its team in order to help more landowners, ag lenders and land investment firms leverage data to grow their business. The company’s data-driven approach in a data-poor industry is just one of the things that has attracted top ag tech investors to get involved:
“We are excited to partner with FarmlandFinder as they revolutionize the way that farmland owners gain transparency to its true value – utilizing the groundbreaking online data tools that Steven and his team have developed. We have been following FarmlandFinder since AgStartupEngine made an investment two years ago, so we are thrilled to see Steven and his team continue in their mission.” said Craig Ibsen, Managing Principal at Next Level Ventures.
About FarmlandFinder
FarmlandFinder makes it easy for farmland professionals to gain market intelligence and manage data. With a digital suite of tools, landowners and farmland professionals can quickly find information to help make decisions when buying, selling or analyzing land. Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, FarmlandFinder is on a mission to make land sales simple, instant and online. For more information, visit www.FarmlandFinder.com.
About Next Level Ventures
Based in Des Moines, Next Level Ventures is a venture capital firm which invests in growing companies that are based only in Iowa. Next Level Ventures is proud and excited to contribute to Iowa's economic development and startup ecosystem. Learn more at www.nextlevelvc.com.