MasterBarter, an agribusiness fintech that works with barter trading in Brazil, announced the launch of a digital account and credit card aimed at rural producers to access credit and/or inputs using agricultural production as currency.
Behind MasterBarter, founded a little over a year ago, are Walter Dissinger, former Nutrition and Health president at BASF and former CEO of Votorantim Cimentos, Francisco Pereira, founder and current CEO of Trademaster and former Bunge director, and Marcelo Borba, rural producer in Tocantins and Goiás and founder of MB Engenharia. The trio decided to found the startup to make the barter system accessible to Brazilian small and medium-sized rural producers.
READ ALSO: Startup Yes We Grow wants to be the “Apple of urban agriculture”
Farm barter is a trading system that involves the exchange of future crops for credit and/or inputs. In other words, the supplier or institution provides credit and/or inputs and the farmer pays for it in installments, with part of what he will still produce. The whole transaction is made legal through a document registered in a notary’s office.
Barter has become popular in Brazil due to the country’s high lending rates and because it reduces the payment risks for suppliers by designating crops as collateral. The bartering system is not exactly new, but access to it is restricted.
“Farmers use the barter system for financing crop costing, but access is still very restricted to the large farmer in soybean, corn, and cotton crops. There is still a lot of potential to bring smaller farmers and new crops into this financing journey,” explained Dissinger, CEO at MasterBarter.
READ ALSO: Brazilian AgroForte raises BRL 6 million to expand credit offer for rural producers
According to the entrepreneur, the newly launched digital account and credit card were designed to scale up the barter system, promoting more autonomy and ease for the rural producer who needs working capital for his operation.
Through MasterBarter’s app and card, the farmer is able to convert future crops into cash whenever he needs liquidity. “It is the only Mastercard-flagged credit card that offers crop term for rural producers,” adds Dissinger.
Currently, agfintech operates with more than 10 clients, including cooperatives, distributors, and input industries, and projects to trade more than BRL 400 million through its barter platform in 2022, accelerating to reach BRL 7 billion and 80,000 registered farmers within three years.
MasterBarter has already secured a BRL 5 million pre-Seed funding round from its founders, angel investors, and the funds Parallax Ventures and FRAM Capital. A Seed round is already on the radar for soon.
