NH Investment & Securities, Agricultural Food Crowdfunding Surpasses 20,000 Cumulative Participants

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] NH Investment & Securities announced on the 10th that it held the 'Agricultural and Food Crowd Funding Business Progress Report Meeting.' The meeting was conducted as a progress report on the project to commemorate surpassing 20,000 cumulative crowdfunding participants and included a roundtable discussion with young farmers.

Since 2017, NH Investment & Securities has supported farmers in pioneering digital-based sales channels through crowdfunding in collaboration with the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation's Startup Farm Support Center. Agricultural and food crowdfunding has been conducted in a reward format where the return on investment is received in agricultural products.

The Startup Farm Support Center selects young farmers (graduates of the Young Farmers Officer School) and farmers producing excellent agricultural products, while NH Investment & Securities fully covers the costs involved in creating the funding platform and marketing, thereby reducing the burden on farmers and contributing to income increase. Agricultural and food funding reduces distribution stages, providing farmers with new sales channels and consumers with opportunities to access healthy food, enabling a win-win situation for both farmers and consumers.

Since May 2019, NH Investment & Securities has promoted agricultural and food funding using Naver Happy Bean's platform. Over 3 years and 9 months (45 months), 20,463 participants have joined, raising more than 690 million KRW in investment funds.

The roundtable with young farmers included representatives from Daum Farm (shiitake mushrooms), Lee Jong-wook Apple Mango (apple mangoes), Bangdal Farm (jujube cherry tomatoes), Hangane (honey sweet potatoes), and Hyanggwassi (passion fruit), who shared their experiences and success stories regarding crowdfunding participation.

NH Investment & Securities plans to continue supporting crowdfunding to foster and stabilize young farmers. Choi Hong-seok, head of the ESG Promotion Department, stated, "We will continue to support online sales channels including crowdfunding to nurture and stabilize young farmers and strive to lay the foundation for increasing farmers' income."