Agrafonds lends a farmer money if the bank does not want it

AgraFonds cannot provide full disclosure due to the agreements made with third parties. For example, who sits next to the Schippers family in Agrafonds leaves fund manager Rick Jaspers (33) in the middle. Except that, according to him, this mainly concerns suppliers in the agricultural sector. He also does not want to reveal the size of the fund. However, in conversation with Jaspers, it becomes clear that they are a party with serious financing plans for short-term loans across the full breadth of the agricultural sector. And especially for farmers who cannot go to the bank for whatever reason, or who experience too many delays in financing that one plot of agricultural land. 

Tell us more about the fund, who are you?
"Agrafonds is an initiative driven by the Schippers family. They appointed new management for the Schippers Group at the beginning of last year and are now focusing more on other things. In the past, they have already assisted agricultural entrepreneurs from their network. With the fund that was established a few months ago, we will roll it out on a larger scale and further professionalize it. This means actively entering the market. The funding comes from a diverse number of parties from the Dutch agricultural sector, mainly suppliers to advance the agricultural sector in our country."

The fund is an alternative to the bank, so to speak?
"You can say that like that, but we are not a bank. Let there be no misunderstanding about that. Moreover, we only focus on short-term loans that can amount to a few million. Farmers sometimes cannot go to a bank if they are taking too much risk. see a case, or miss out on a loan for other reasons. We are sometimes still willing to provide capital, but we only finance healthy companies."

The negative explanation is that NGOs might say that suppliers are trying to maintain their sales in this way in a shrinking market?
"You can look at it that way, but we don't see it that way. The companies behind the fund want to help the agricultural sector move forward by offering companies an opportunity to, for example, become more sustainable or innovate. Moreover, the suppliers are often already in the active abroad, so this argument is only partly valid."

How do you work?
"When an entrepreneur has a financing need, we like to work with the financial advisor and/or the accountancy firm to which the entrepreneur in question is affiliated. We make a risk inventory based on the financial data, the investment plan and the security provided. We always talk to the entrepreneur to see who is behind it. We take a pragmatic approach and try to save time so that a farmer can obtain that one plot of agricultural land, while this takes too long with other lenders. This can also be a bridge financing that the banks refinance later. We do not provide flash loans, the entire financing process generally takes a few weeks, depending on the available information."

The crucial components of financing are interest rates and collateral. What do you offer and demand?
"We follow the market with the interest rate. And the degree of risk determines the rate. It is also not the case that we are much more competitive than the rates at banks. Our added value lies mainly in our speed and willingness. We mainly provide ourselves with mortgage collateral in the form of buildings and land. Entrepreneurs who are already fully financed are therefore more difficult to finance where the current financier has often already secured the entire property We see the number of loan applications increasing rapidly as our awareness increases."