It translates into a 12% return on his initial investment in less than a year.

“It’s a financial investment but it’s also driven partially by emotion,” explains Nathan MacPhee, who lives with his own family on a small farm near Mansfield in north-east Victoria.   

“It’s like investing in shares but it is much more personal and direct, because you actually get to know the farmers you are backing, select what sort of farming you want to invest in and where the  animals are located which spreads your risk and exposure; I like to call it profit with purpose or impact investing.”   

Idea born during pandemic

The pandemic itself has shown just how critical local farmers and the food they produce – as well as the security and reliability of supply chains – are to the everyday lives of ordinary Australians, most of whom live in the big cities and their sprawling suburbs.

Yet agriculture has become an industry most Australians know little about, far removed from their own personal or family experiences, and which they can’t ever actively participate in.  For a young person keen to become a farmer, even if they have formal agricultural training or a farm background, the cost of buying land and establishing a viable rural business has become prohibitive.

Nathan believes his Invest Inya Farmer app can radically change, or at least disrupt, that situation, by giving investors unprecedented exposure to, and a connection with, actual food production, farmers and farm business experiences, both good and bad.  

RELATED: Laconik - Investment opportunity: On-farm trials platform giving agribusiness and growers more accurate insights^

Invest in agriculture without owning a farm

“It means anyone can invest in agriculture and food, without owning a farm or the land,” said Nathan.  “Farmers gain capital from consumers, without having to borrow from a bank or take on extra risk, by effectively pre-selling a portion of their produce to improve their cash flow or spread it more evenly across the year.

“And for investors, the IIF app gives them access to high growth assets and potentially attractive returns that you can’t get anywhere else without ever stepping foot on a farm; because you are not investing in either the land or an (ASX-listed) agribusiness, but in the food and produce that the farmers grow.   

 “It’s sharefarming for the digital age, with investors supplying the capital, the farmer supplying his farm and expertise, and both parties sharing in the profit when the produce is sold.”

A $1.2 million capital raise was recently complete, with support from a local and offshore venture capital firm specialising in agriculture.

This capital will be used to expand IIF in Australia and conduct an overseas pilot given that the IIF model is eminently scale-able, Global expansion would allow investors to further spread their risk exposure to agriculture geographically and across different types of produce, such as tea plantations in Sri Lanka, rice growers in Thailand or even urban indoor farms in Singapore.          

MacPhee’s early-stage business plan, based on current interest and investment, is that more than $5 million will have been invested in Australia agricultural production via his IIF fintech modelthis year.

Within five years, the long-term objective is to be delivering $1 billion of capital into agriculture annually, which Nathan says is a relatively-modest vison based on 100,000 people investing an average of $5000, turned over every six months.  

Along with global expansion, Nathan is looking for engagement from farmers and producers in broadacre cropping and horticultural industries such as orchard and vegetable, that are interested in collaborating with this novel farm production investment platform.

“We think it’s going to grow very quickly, because investors can see these are real assets capable of generating good returns and can spread their risk, although they are also exposed to the volatility of farming too,” said Nathan.  

“But we know we add value to agriculture by building the connection consumers have to farmers and food production and making capital available to agriculture; the model is sound and, just like Airbnb and Afterpay, it will take a while to build but we expect it to take off rapidly…”

If you would like to be a farm collaborator or have a farm in your pocket, you can learn more and make contact with Nathan via visiting the partnership opportunity here.

The information in this article is general information only and should not be taken as constituting professional advice from AgriFutures Australia. AgriFutures Australia is not a financial adviser and not received any benefit from a third party for promoting this opportunity. Before acting on any information, you should consider the appropriateness of it and the relevant product having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. You should consider seeking independent legal, financial, taxation or other advice to check how the information relates to your unique circumstances. AgriFutures Australia is not liable for any loss caused, whether due to negligence or otherwise arising from the use of, or reliance on, the information provided directly or indirectly, from the information contained in this article. 

^{^This investment opportunity is only for professional and sophisticated investors as defined in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). The content of this opportunity is intended for use by persons having professional experience in matters relating to investments and must not be acted or relied upon by any other person including, without limitation, retail clients.}