Oxbury backs British farmers with additional £20m raise
Summary
Oxbury, an agricultural bank that lends to farmers, has raised \xa320m in funding following its \xa331m Series C funding round in March this year.The extra funding takes Oxburys total capital raised to \xa368m, having only just opened its doors to customers in February 2021, a report by AltFi revealed.The round saw participation from Frontier Agriculture and Hutchinsons Group, along with the banks existing investors Hambro Perks and Grosvenor Food & AgTech.In January last year, FinTech Global reported that the agriculture-focused challenger bank secures \xa325m in new funding, as it prepared for its launch a month later.Oxbury calls itself a champion of British agriculture, as it exclusively lends to farmers and the rural economy. The bank said this means farmers have access to the specialised lending they need to run their farm. Individuals and businesses can hold accounts with the bank that simultaneous boost their own savings and support British farmers.As part of todays funding Oxbury also reportedly revealed it has surpassed a \xa3500m milestone of completed or in-progress lending.The bank said, We have a deep understanding of the agricultural sector and the challneges that farmers face because we talk to farmers about their business every day.We use our industry knowledge and purpose-built technology platform the make quick and appropriate decisions on credit facilities, so that our customers can spend less time dealing with administration and spend more time on their farms and growing their business.Although Oxbury is unique in its specific agricultural lending practices, other companies, namely InsurTechs, are looking at ways they can support farmers. Luxembourg-based climate InsurTech IBISA recently raised 1.5m in a seed round led by InsurTech Gateway.