Stable closes a $60m Series B to bring calm to commodity market chaos

Stable, the ‘home of hedging’ for the $5 trillion agricultural commodity industry, today announced the close of a $60m Series B investment.

The round is led by Acrew with notable investors Greycroft, Notion Capital, Syngenta and Continental Grain Company also participating in the round. Acrew’s Vishal Lugani will join Stable’s Board of Directors.

Covid and the war in Ukraine are causing supply chain disruptions around the world, casting the agri-food industry into uncharted waters. 44% of the world’s supply of Wheat, Sunflower and Rye comes from Ukraine, which is causing a huge secondary wave of volatility across the industry and is threatening the survival of many critical parts of the supply chain.

“Over the last two years, no business has been spared from the uncertainty that stems from volatile commodity prices. Any savvy business leader that is affected by commodity price fluctuation should be using Stable’s cutting edge offering to manage this volatility. Acrew is glad to be partnering with Rich and team; in leading this investment round, we hope we can support Stable as they build a new category of risk management,” says Vishal Lugani, General Partner & Co-Founder of Acrew Capital.

Stable was founded in 2017 by Rich Counsell in an old cow shed on his family farm in Somerset, UK. Despite its humble beginnings, Counsell’s vision to make hedging simple and accessible meant the business grew rapidly and now lists over 500 untraded commodities that can be hedged on the platform. Its diverse clients range from multinational food and drink companies to family farms across the Americas.

Stable will use the new funding to help clients understand and manage their price risk. New initiatives will see the aggregation of financial news via Stable Media™, investment in the Stable Data™ product suite to visualize and assess the markets, and the development of Stable Risk™ from its current focus on options to offering clients swaps and collars.

“Hedging is seen as complex and risky to most business owners, yet the benefits of bringing stability and predictability to an income statement shouldn’t be reserved for giant multinationals and sophisticated traders. Businesses of every size, sector and location should have the ability to understand and manage their price risk so they can invest in the future with confidence.

“We’re really proud to partner with Acrew, Notion, Greycroft and all of our shareholders as we accelerate our plans to make a real impact in this vital sector and warmly welcome Vishal Lugani to the Board,” says Rich Counsell, Stable CEO.

Stable’s rural roots have proven a fertile environment as the company has now germinated across the US, Europe and Asia and employs over 60 commodity experts, quants and data scientists. The company is on track to transfer $1bn of risk by 2025 from the food and farming industry to reinsurance and capital market partners.

“The disruption in the commodity markets has created an extraordinary opportunity to make a difference to this vital sector, and we’re delighted to support the team and their vision,” added Stephen Chandler, Managing Partner at Notion Capital.

“After years of R&D and dreaming of making a real difference to our industry, I feel incredibly privileged to lead this diverse and talented team of people who are making it happen. It’s a big moment for us as a team, but Stable has barely gotten started when it comes to the role we can play in the future of our industry,” says Counsell.