Today we’re proudly congratulating one of Invest Ottawa’s own incubator companies, FarmLead, on receiving Series A funding for their startup!
FarmLead is the world’s leading online grain marketplace. The Ottawa-based startup provides an online platform for grain farmers to find buyers—a crucial tool in a changing market that still relies on some pretty old-fashioned means of marketing. The $6.5M USD funding is a raise led by Monsanto Growth Ventures (MGV) and additional investments from Avrio Ventures, the MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund, and Serra Ventures. These resources will support FarmLead’s expansion into the US market and the opening a Chicago headquarters—a key access point to prominent American grain production.
Brennan Turner – Founder, President and CEO
FarmLead’s success is the most recent in a long, growing line of successful Ottawa startups. Previous graduates of Invest Ottawa’s Acceleration program include recognizable names such as GymTrack, Signority, Spoonity and GIATEC; the efforts of Ottawa’s startups attracted more than $25M in investments in 2016, and $51M in 2015. With recent reports crowning Ottawa as Canada’s top tech hub, it’s not surprising to hear that our city’s startups are getting funded.
“This funding is well-deserved for FarmLead. They have an extremely valuable product that supports the Canadian economy–not just in the field of tech and innovation, but right through to the agricultural industry by supporting all our valuable farmers, ” says Jonathan Milne, Managing Director of Innovation at Invest Ottawa. “With Alain and Brennan at the lead, this is a company that’s been poised for big growth and this funding will give them the boost they’ve been waiting for to help them get to the next level.”
Alain Goubau – Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer
Michelle Van Tol, the Entrepreneur in Residence paired with FarmLead through Invest Ottawa’s incubator program, is thrilled with the results. “You can really see Ottawa coming into its own. FarmLead’s vision and hard work is paying off, but so is our city’s hard work in supporting these kinds of great young tech companies. We believe in these companies and believe that our support helps to accelerate their growth. FarmLead is a fantastic example of what can happen when you pair great startups with great support from Invest Ottawa.”
Want to know more? Head over to our spotlight blog post talking all about FarmLead’s inception and vision. Want to learn more about Invest Ottawa’s programs? Head over to our website and have a look.