27 October 2022, Sweden: Lantmännen, LRF and Svensk Mjölk will contribute with SEK 35 million to the jointly owned Tillväxtbolaget. The new funds will strengthen competitiveness, create growth, and increase the number of sustainable investments on Swedish farms, by enabling and supporting expansions and ownership changes.
Swedish agriculture’s need for capital for investments remains high. This is shown not least by the number of applications received by Tillväxtbolaget.
“In many cases, access to venture capital is what is lacking in order to increase productivity and profitability in agricultural enterprises. The commitment, knowledge and the detailed plans are out there. It is therefore gratifying that we receive an additional SEK 35 million with which we can create the conditions to make farming thrive,” says Helena Silvander, CEO of Tillväxtbolaget.
“Another important parameter is that our investments to a large extent support younger farmers who, on a structural level, find it more difficult to be granted loans by other actors. The ability to take a loan is a prerequisite for long-term ownership for many farmers, and especially in the event of generational and ownership changes,” Silvander continues.
Tillväxtbolaget, which is owned by Lantmännen, LRF, Svensk Mjölk, Växa Sverige and HKScan, provides capital to enable growth and contributes to strengthen the competitiveness of Swedish agriculture. This is done by offering top funding to agricultural companies that wants to make larger investments. Since its inception in 2018, Tillväxtbolaget has enabled investments of over SEK 1.2 billion through lending of SEK 136 million. Approximately 55 companies have so far been granted loans for sustainable and growth-oriented investments in their operations. Just over 60 percent of the projects today come from the dairy industry, which seems to be a continued trend
