South Korean AgTech startup Tridge lands $37M at a $2.7 billion valuation to match global food agriculture buyers and sellers

The pandemic-induced global supply chain pain that started in 2020 continues this year as the war rages on between Russia and Ukraine. The supply chain issue has led to food shortages and rising food prices across the globe. The situation is further worsened by the ongoing inflation.

The good news is that food prices have dropped in recent months but they are shy of where they were before the pandemic started. The other good news is that one startup now wants to address supply chain issues by removing common barriers in the conventional agriculture trading scene.

Enter Tridge, a SoftBank-backed South Korean startup that matches global food agriculture buyers and sellers via its online trade platform. Using its global order fulfillment solution technology, Tridge helps buyers around the globe import food and agricultural products and directly supply products to its customers. The startup also removes the burden from its consumer and takes care of everything from production to shipment.

In addition, Tridge also helps from research to ordering and enables buyers to source their food and agriculture items at reasonable prices in more than 150 countries. From its platform, food suppliers can also diversify their sales channels and find buyers for perishable foods. It’s a win-win.

To further grow its platform and accumulate agricultural market intelligence, Tridge recently raised $37 million in a Series D financing round led by DS Asset Management, one of South Korea’s most prominent investors. The round, which brings the company’s total equity funding to nearly $120M, increases Trige’s valuation from $500M to $2.7 billion. Tridge will also the funding proceeds to expand into more international markets.

Founded by Hoshik Shin, Tridge is a global agricultural platform that removes friction in the conventional agriculture trading scene. Tridge intends to do so by digitizing two major pillars: market intelligence and fulfillment service. The Tridge platform brings agricultural market networks and real-time market information together to facilitate more efficient trade and increase food security.

“Today’s fundraising reflects the strength of Tridge’s business, the growth our teams have delivered and the incredible opportunity ahead,” said Hoshik Shin, founder of Tridge. “As B2B business starts to accept new ways of sourcing agriculture products over the coming years, we’ll continue to invest in our people, products and partners to support all of the communities we serve.”

“We are delighted to participate in this round because we believe in both Tridge’s vision and their business model,” said DS Asset Management. “Solving global food supply disruptions is an important mission for all of us.”

The Tridge platform allows parties on both sides of trades to deal directly with each other, eliminating the need for 3rd party intermediaries and reducing time spent on phone calls, e-mails, and other time-consuming processes.  Tridge currently has more than 400,000 subscribers to its platform, which allows parties on both sides of trades to deal directly with each other, eliminating the need for 3rd party intermediaries.