What Hectare does

Hectare Agritech Limited is a UK-based agricultural technology company that operates online marketplaces connecting crop and livestock farmers directly with verified buyers, eliminating traditional intermediaries. Its primary platform, Hectare Trading, is a cloud-based SaaS marketplace for grain (wheat, barley, oilseed rape, oats, beans) that enables UK arable farmers to list crops for free, receive and compare real-time price offers from hundreds of vetted buyers, access free local market insights and futures benchmarks, forward-sell for future harvest periods, and use optional Advance Pay cash-flow support. The company also operates SellMyLivestock as a wholly-owned sub-brand, a separate marketplace for cattle and sheep trading that includes data-rich health, breeding, and vaccination records. Mobile applications are available on iOS and Android, and registration requires a Red Tractor or Scottish Quality Crops farm assurance number plus a verification call.

The underlying technology is a two-sided marketplace platform with proprietary offer-comparison, buyer-verification, and price-benchmarking features, supported by integrations with Red Tractor, Scottish Quality Crops, Clay Labs, and CreditSafe for onboarding and identity verification. Hectare monetises through marketplace transaction fees charged to buyers (not sellers), with farmers listing and receiving market insights for free under a freemium pricing model. The company sells to four vertical customer segments: UK crop farmers (primary), grain merchants and traders, UK livestock farmers, and livestock supply chain participants including processors and feedlots. Headcount is 11-50 employees and the registered office is in Dorchester, with a contact office in London.

Hectare was founded in 2016 by Andrew Huxham, an arable farmer, and is led by CEO Jamie McInnes. The company has raised approximately $50 million across at least seven funding rounds between 2017 and 2023, including a $20 million Series A in March 2023 that explicitly funded product development and international expansion. Operations remain UK-only, with Hectare positioned as the self-described #1 online crop marketplace in the UK and the operator of the largest network of verified agricultural buyers in the country.

Name

Hectare

Legal name

Hectare AgriTech Limited

Website

https://wearehectare.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hectare operates the UK's largest online agricultural marketplaces, connecting crop and livestock farmers directly with verified buyers through its Hectare Trading and SellMyLivestock platforms. The free-to-list, buyer-commission model enables real-time price comparison, market insights, and forward-selling for UK arable and livestock producers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Trading Marketplace

NAICS

Livestock Merchant Wholesalers (42452)

SIC

Wholesale-Farm Product Raw Materials (5150)

akta.pro primary industry

Agricultural Commodities Exchanges (Grains, Oilseeds, Livestock) (FSAFAMAA)

Keywords

• Agricultural trading marketplace
• Online grain marketplace
• Livestock trading platform
• Farm e-commerce
• Crop price benchmarking

Headquarters

HQ city

Rowlands Castle

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Marketplace transaction fees: Hectare Trading charges buyers (not farmers) for transactions facilitated through the platform. Sellers list for free with no obligation. The platform is described as commission-free for farmers on the listing side, with the buyer side bearing the transaction cost.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Hectare operates the UK's largest online marketplace for agricultural trading, connecting thousands of farmers with verified buyers for crops (grain, oilseeds, pulses) through Hectare Trading and for livestock (cattle, sheep) through SellMyLivestock. The platform enables farmers to post listings, receive real-time competitive bids from vetted buyers, benchmark prices regionally, and complete transactions directly without intermediaries. Buyers access the largest verified network of UK farmers along with real-time ex-farm price data and supply chain visibility tools.

Product overview

Hectare offers a unified agricultural trading platform consisting of Hectare Trading (crop marketplace) and SellMyLivestock (livestock marketplace), supported by Market Insights for real-time price intelligence and mobile applications for both iOS and Android. The platform connects UK farmers with verified buyers, enabling price comparison, listing management, and direct trading across crops (grain, oilseeds, pulses) and livestock (cattle and sheep).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hectare Trading Online marketplace connecting UK farmers with verified buyers for crop trading, including real-time price comparison, listing management, free local market insights, forward-selling capability and direct farmer-to-buyer transactions across grain, oilseeds and pulses.
• SellMyLivestock Online marketplace for cattle and sheep trading that enables data-rich listings (weight, breeding, health and vaccination data), automatic alerts, direct farm-to-farm trades, and supply chain visibility for processors, feedlots and farmers.
• Hectare Trading Mobile App Mobile application for iOS and Android that provides farmers with on-the-go access to crop listings, real-time price offers, in-app notifications and market insights.

Quantifiable outcome

• Farmers report achieving £9 per tonne more for wheat compared to local sales
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Red TractorcoreTechnology or IntegrationRed Tractor provides farm assurance data that Hectare Trading uses as part of its registration and verification process. Farmers must provide their Red Tractor or Scottish Quality Crops assurance number to sign up, linking farm quality standards to the trading platform's verification standards.
• Scottish Quality CropscoreTechnology or IntegrationScottish Quality Crops provides farm assurance data used in the platform's registration and verification process alongside Red Tractor. Farmers provide their SQC assurance number to sign up and trade.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Yagro: UK-based agricultural technology platform providing price benchmarking, procurement, and market insight tools for arable farmers. Directly comparable as a UK-domestic digital ag-pricing and trading platform serving the same farmer customer base.
• Indigo Agriculture: US-based agricultural marketplace and digital platform connecting grain growers with buyers, plus biological and carbon programs. Directly comparable two-sided grain marketplace model, though operating at significantly larger scale in North America.
• Bushel: US digital platform powering grain trading, real-time offer management, and farmer-buyer connectivity for elevators and growers. Direct competitor in digital grain marketplace infrastructure with overlapping offer-comparison functionality.
• Farmers Business Network (FBN): US farmer-to-farmer network offering input procurement, grain marketing, and data services. Comparable in combining marketplace transaction facilitation with farmer-facing data and pricing tools.

Regional players

• AgriDigital: Australia-headquartered digital commodity management and trading platform for grains. Strong overlap on grain marketplace functionality but operating primarily in Australian and Asia-Pacific markets rather than the UK.

Broad incumbents

• Cargill: Global agricultural commodity giant operating grain origination, trading, and digital farmer-relationship programs. Comparable as a grain buyer-side participant and increasingly as a digital procurement competitor.
• ADM (Archer Daniels Midland): Global agribusiness and grain trader with growing digital farmer-direct origination capabilities. Comparable as a major grain buyer competing for farmer supply.
• Bayer (xChange / Climate FieldView): Global agriscience and ag-tech incumbent offering farmer-facing digital platforms alongside crop inputs. Overlaps with Hectare on farmer digitization and data services at significantly broader scale.

Emerging players

• CommoditAg: Online ag-input marketplace offering farmers procurement of crop protection and fertilizer products. Adjacent ag e-commerce marketplace model with shared farmer customer base, though focused on inputs rather than output sales.
• SoilEssentials / KisanHub: UK/India-focused ag-tech platform providing farm management, traceability, and supply-chain visibility tools. Partial overlap on supply-chain transparency and farmer data services relevant to Hectare's livestock and grain verticals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Hectare-Trading/videos
• Xx.com/hectareagritech

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hectare