LendSecured, the agricultural crowdfunding platform, has announced a brand merger with Lande, the credit platform for farmers. Lande operates in Latvia, and by merging with LendSecured, it plans to expand to Europe, with the Estonian market coming next by the end of 2021.
Lande is a platform that supports farmers looking for financing to scale their production. The platform is already connected with LendSecured, allowing qualifying farmers to seek out crowdsourced funding at LendSecured. By merging with LendSecured, it’s expected to expand Lande’s services to underserved European rural communities.
“Lande has been under development for over two years now and has become well known in local farming communities as the go-to source for funding information for small farms. It has also been a helpful partner for LendSecured, selecting qualifying farmers for LendSecured investors to invest in. We look forward to unifying these brands and jointly growing throughout the European market.“
– Nikita Goncars, Founder and CEO of LendSecured and Lande
The team behind LendSecured and Lande have been working together for nearly a decade. Their shared professional experience of running several real estate and mortgage lending companies has led to the idea of establishing platforms to help small and medium-sized European farmers secure financing by using grain and moveable property (such as herds and farming equipment) as collateral.
As for investors, LendSecured presents an opportunity to diversify their investment portfolios by supporting European farmers and the growing global demand for produce. According to the World Bank, demand for food will increase by 70% by 2050, and to meet this demand, “at least $80 billion annual investments will be needed”. However, as demand for food globally is expected to grow so rapidly, it indicates a potentially high return on investment in the future.
LendSecured, created by Nikita Goncars and Edgars Talums, was launched in July 2020. The crowdfunding platform is on track to reach €1M in funding raised in support of Baltic farmers within the next few months. By merging with Lande, LendSecured will undergo rebranding and present itself as a full-service platform for agricultural financing and crowdfunding.
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