Tridge, the South Korea-based online agricultural trading platform backed by telecommunications and internet group Softbank, raised $60m in its series C round today.
The round, which was led by investment firm Forest Partners, gave the company a valuation of $500m and increased its funding to over $81m.
Founded in 2015, Tridge provides an online marketplace that enables farmers to trade their agricultural products, connects buyers and sellers around the world, and provides users with detailed market information.
The platform uses artificial intelligence and data analytics and has attracted 50,000 buyers since launching in October 2020.
The funding will help Tridge scale its fulfilment service and global reach and expand its presence by building new co-packing and warehousing facilities in 50 countries. It also plans to grow its team to 500 and increase its fulfilment revenue to $300m by the end of 2021.
The company had previously raised $10.5m in a November 2019 series A round led by SoftBank subsidiary SoftBank Ventures Asia that also featured Forest Partners and Activant Capital. The two investment firms subsequently provided Tridge with $11m in series B funding in April 2020.