S Korean agrifood trading platform Tridge raises $60m Series C funding

South Korea’s Tridge, a digital trading and market intelligence platform for food and agriculture buyers and suppliers, announced raising $60 million in a Series C funding round.

The investment came from South Korean venture capital investor Forest Partners, an existing investor in Tridge. The funding round values the company at $500 million, up from $140 million since its last funding in April 2020.

Founded in 2015, Tridge is an agrifood trading platform where buyers and suppliers of agricultural and food products can find everything they need to understand their markets with just a simple search.

Its founder, Hoshik Shin, worked as a commodity investor at Deutsche Bank and Korea Investment Corporation before establishing the platform.

“The food and agriculture sector is one of the most fragmented sectors and buyers and suppliers struggle to find the right information or partner,” Shin said.

“Our market intelligence works as a vessel to help them come together; we are the bridge to connect and help them start new trading relationships in the most efficient and reliable method as possible,” he added.

The startup said it will use the latest funding to continue scaling its fulfillment service (a door to door delivery service for buyers’ desired products) and global reach to meet the purchasing needs of major clients.

Specifically, Tridge is looking to expand its global physical presence by setting up businesses and co-packing/warehousing facilities in 50 strategic countries to ensure a stable supply and competitive pricing.

Tridge has attracted 50,000 buyers since formally launching its market intelligence and fulfillment services in October 2020. The company expects its fulfillment revenue to reach $300 million by the end of 2021 with 1,500 purchase requests currently being made by clients every month.

The company’s headcount has tripled since early 2020 and it plans to expand further in its Seoul headquarters’ fulfilment and platform development teams, as well as recruiting more engagement managers – its team of market experts stationed around the world to work with local suppliers and buyers

“The investment will allow us to scale at a crucial time of growing demand for more fluid and open food supply,” Shin stressed.