Steward, a nonbank private lender, has raised $8.8 million in a Series A to expand its work lending to small, sustainably run farms, fisheries, ranches and food producers.
The round was led by The Grantham Foundation and Tripple. The round also included Ponderosa Ventures and other mission-aligned investors such as Kat Taylor, co-founder and co-chair of the board for Beneficial Bank.
“As a capital partner, we’re making a tangible impact by funding the growth of human-scale regenerative agriculture. But we don’t do it alone—we bring together a diverse community of values-driven lenders who join in our mission, putting their own resources to work to effect change,” said Daniel Miller, Steward founder and CEO, in a written statement.
Steward is an online lending platform that allows users to participate in secured, interest-bearing loans that are made to farmers and producers working in regenerative agriculture, which is farming practices, land stewardship and food systems that are small scale and sustainable.
Miller started working on the company in 2016 and it made its first loan in 2017. To date, the group has provided more than $7 million in farm loans to 50 projects. These loans have been backed by more than 1,200 participating lenders.
Steward’s loans can be as small as $5,000 and go to farms that are as small as 4 acres and aren't aren’t attractive to traditional lenders. The largest loan on the platform to date is $700,000, however a project for more than $1 million is set to launch soon.
“We have consistently found that access to capital is one of the primary barriers to growth for innovative growers. When your production model doesn’t fit squarely into the mold of a traditional farm lender, you are underserved,” said Eric Smith, director of Neglected Climate Opportunities, the venture capital arm of the Grantham Environmental Trust, in a written statement. “Steward is working to fix that, bringing a model of finance that unlocks capital for producers so they can supply a market that is currently exploding.”
Steward is a fully distributed company. Miller is in London, but the company is based in Portland. Two of its 13 staff members are here, and it has worked with more farmers in Oregon than any other market, Miller said.
“When people look to sustainable food systems, I think Oregon is far forward,” he said, but added there is still work to do.
Early in Miller’s work he was introduced to Ecotrust and their work with building resilient food systems. It was through that group Miller was connected to networks of farmers in the Pacific Northwest.
One of Steward’s early projects was a $50,000 loan to Southern Oregon cannabis farm East Fork Cultivars.
Steward is the latest foray for Miller into online lending. He previously co-founded and led Fundrise, an early player in online platforms that allowed small investors to access real estate deals.
This funding will be used add to the team as the startup continues to build out its services for its partner farmers and producers. Miller noted they are bringing on a product designer to help with the technology and a grant writer to help partners find other sources of funding.
Helping small farmers run their businesses is a likely place for Steward to add even more value beyond simply capital, according to Miller.
“The story is told small farmers can’t compete and they should get out. The field is distorted against them,” he said. “At the same time, there are huge subsidies for the big farms.”
The investors in this round are mission-aligned with Steward, Miller said.
“We want long term, patient capital that is mission-aligned. This is my second go-around. You learn not all capital is the same and who the investor is matters a lot,” he said. “We are a B Corp, but I absolutely believe this will be a successful company economically, but we aren’t just measuring it based on that.”
As a result of this funding round, Smith, Rebecca Milgrom, executive director of Tripple, and Evi Steyer, general partner at Ponderosa, are all joining Steward’s board.
"Steward and its community of lenders are also well positioned to provide much needed capital to a diverse set of producers who have been excluded from capital and land access, counteracting racial and gender bias that have pervaded the sector historically,” said Steyer in a written statement.
