CrowdFarming: Direktvertrieb für nachhaltige Lebensmittel

CrowdFarming is a one-stop-shop platform for farmers seeking to sell directly to end-consumers without intermediaries. The investment programme addresses, among other activities, the further developments and enhancements of the digital marketplace, the integration of a broad and diversified range of payment methods to make user experience as frictionless as possible, the development of tools that foster order recurrence and promote transparency and sustainable agricultural practices, and the development of additional automation capabilities in logistics.

The project will finance mostly investments in research, development and innovation (RDI) activities, as well as the commercial growth of the company.

The proposed operation is aligned with InvestEU objectives regarding the development, deployment and scaling-up of digital technologies and services and addresses the European Green Deal Innovations Main Policy Priority Area under the InvestEU Research, Innovation and Digitalisation Window (RIDW).

The project also supports the EIB's objective of innovation and digitalisation, as it supports the development and market introduction of specialized B2B2C digital products to allow farmers to sell their products directly to end-consumers, including logistics, marketing, customer-support, and an online marketplace.

The EIB financing addresses a financing market gap thanks to a combination of unique features such as a 3-year availability period associated with a long-term maturity date and a bullet repayment. This would enable the Borrower to focus on growing its business by deploying its technological and commercial roadmap.

The project will lead to the development and deployment of innovative product and process technologies with substantial environmental and social benefits, and it is aligned with the European Commission in its Farm to Fork strategy promoting organic food and enabling direct commercialization from farmers at a competitive price.

The project would not have been carried out (to the same extent) by the EIB without the InvestEU support.

The related activities will be performed in existing buildings with no relevant environmental impacts expected. The project does not fall under the environmental impact assessment (EIA) Directive 2014/52/EU (amending EIA Directive 2011/92/EU) therefore no EIA is required.

The promoter has been assessed by the EIB as being a private company not operating in the utilities sector and not having a status of a contracting entity, and is thus not subject to EU rules on public procurement.