ProducePay raises $77 million to, well, pay for produce

The company has raised $77 million in equity and debt for its cash-flow solutions for farmers.

TechCrunch first reported the news.

The financing consists of a $7 million equity investment led by CoVenture, which also arranged a $70 million debt facility. Previous investors Menlo Ventures, Arena Ventures, Red Bear Angels and Social Leverage also participated in the funding.

“Fresh produce cultivation and harvest practices are very labor intensive, which translates to huge upfront capital needs,” founder and CEO Pablo Borquez Schwarzbeck told TechCrunch. “Many folks who have the natural resources and disposition to go into farming or invest in infrastructure improvements for higher yields, cannot go ahead with their projects due to lack of capital.”

ProducePay also offers a buyer-seller matching service and an online platform that delivers real-time visibility of shipments and payments.

“It’s almost like a [software-as-a-service] company with a finance arm attached to it,” added CoVenture partner and ProducePay board member Ali Hamed.