Tarfin is a Turkish agriculture fintech that provides financing to agri-dealers and farmers and operates a digital platform for purchasing farm inputs. Its platform offers competitive credit terms and a mobile application that lets farmers buy fertilizers, protection products, seeds, and equipment directly. The company uses big data analytics and machine learning to compare input prices and surface lower-cost alternatives. Investors and company statements emphasize Tarfin's strong customer focus and data-driven decision making. Founded by Mehmet Memecan in 2016, Tarfin is positioning for geographic expansion and plans to layer on new offerings for its customers. Recently Yara Growth Ventures joined an $8 million financing alongside existing backers to support the company's next growth phase. Tarfin offers seasonal input financing for smallholder farmers by extending payment terms for fertilizers, seeds, feedstuffs and agrochemicals through a mobile app and retail partnerships. The company uses algorithmic risk modelling that emphasizes real-time ability to pay rather than collateral, aiming to offer lower interest rates than informal local lenders. It also packages pools of receivables—farmer input sales on credit—as asset-backed instruments for institutional investors. Tarfin operates with a network of about 240 partner retail locations and since launching in early 2017 has financed over 18,000 transactions and facilitated farming on more than 440,000 acres. The startup works with retailers as points of contact and decisioning partners rather than cutting them out of the value chain. Management says it will use the new funding to enhance its data analytics technology and mobile app to reach more farmers in Turkey and nearby geographies; investors have also highlighted plans to expand into eastern and southern Europe and potentially layer additional financial and insurance services. Tarfin is a Turkish digital platform that enables farmers to buy agricultural inputs through instant financing via point-of-sale technology and backend credit-scoring algorithms. Retailers of fertilizer, seed, and pesticides use Tarfin to offer farmers products on credit at lower rates—around 29% annually versus typical 45%—and with 10–20% lower price tags. The company launched in February 2017 and currently serves 1,250 farmers through 67 retail locations; it plans to reach over 7,000 farmers through 90 locations by the end of 2019. Tarfin projects this expansion will equate to over $20 million of inputs sold and financed and about 58,000 hectares served by end of 2019. Tarfin emphasizes using farm-level transactional data and statistical learning risk models to underwrite credit and to package receivables into portfolios for institutional investors. The company plans to grow its retail partner network, increase transaction volume per location, and expand into Romania, Poland, and the Balkan countries, pursuing a potential Series A in summer 2019.

Total raised

$14M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Dec 2021