BASF Venture Capital GmbH (BVC), the corporate venture company of BASF SE, is making its first direct investment in South America, leading a US $10 million investment round in the financial services provider Traive.

Based in Brazil and the US, Traive is developing a technology infrastructure for financial services and artificial intelligence (AI) for credit risk analysis and portfolio management.

In Brazil, as in other South American countries, agriculture is one of the most important economic segments. In 2022, the agricultural sector will account for 27.4 percent of Brazil's gross domestic product. Parallel to the growing AgTech startup scene, financial service providers specializing in the agricultural industry are gaining importance.

Traive is a financial platform that digitizes the entire path of agricultural credit – from the farmer's demand to the financial market – and reduces the effort involved in obtaining and managing loans. The proprietary technology allows crop protection product manufacturers, traders, farmers, cooperatives, and trading companies to review, register, manage, and trade their loans on a single platform.

In addition, artificial intelligence generates an immediate risk assessment that helps credit managers, banks and FinTechs make more targeted and dynamic decisions, reduce costs, and mitigate financial risks through real-time monitoring of credit portfolio risk.

Markus Solibieda, Managing Director, BASF Venture Capital GmbH said, "We are proud of our first direct investment in South America. It underlines our mission to foster new business models and innovation to meet today's challenges in the chemical industry as well as in increasingly complex agriculture."

"Traive and BASF both aspire to drive digitalization in agriculture and to be business partners for the entire value chain, i.e. for industry, cooperatives, retailers and farmers. We look forward to exploring our synergy potential together," adds Karime Hajar Alves, Investment Manager, BASF Venture Capital in South America.

"Our technology platform has the potential to fundamentally change the way credit and risk are measured, monitored and commercialized in the agricultural industry. The commitment of BASF Venture Capital and the combination of institutional and strategic investors in this round gives us a tailwind," says Fabricio Pezente, co-founder and CEO, Traive.

Caption: Karime Hajar Alves, Investment Manager at BASF Venture Capital in South America and Fabricio Pezente, co-founder and CEO of Traive