Saskatchewan agricultural technology company ClearCost has secured Series A investment led by SaskWorks Venture Fund, with Motiv Ventures also taking part, Fertilizer Daily reported. The startup is developing a digital marketplace for bulk fertilizer transactions. The companies have not disclosed the size of the round, leaving the financial scale of the investment unspecified in the report.
Established in 2024, ClearCost says it is building a fertilizer-specific system that combines commodity trading and risk management. Its planned functions bring together price discovery, logistics, payments and settlement within a single platform. The company describes an approach covering both the commercial and operational elements of fertilizer transactions, rather than price discovery alone, according to the account published by Fertilizer Daily.
ClearCost plans to introduce a redeveloped version of the platform across North America in the first quarter of 2027. Chief executive Keith Busch said the system is intended to help agricultural businesses manage risks associated with transactions and exercise greater control over their input costs. Those objectives represent the company's stated aims for the platform, rather than demonstrated results reported in the source.
Alongside the financing, ClearCost has named Ricky Lai as chief technology officer and David Pupo as chief commercial officer. The appointments put named executives in charge of its technology and commercial functions as the business works towards the planned North American launch. Fertilizer Daily did not give further details of their responsibilities or backgrounds.
The investors framed their backing around the potential to change bulk fertilizer purchasing. Jeff Linner, chief investment officer at PFM Capital, which manages SaskWorks, pointed to ClearCost's leadership and development plans. Motiv Ventures chief executive Clark Lai described opportunities to improve transparency, efficiency and trust in the fertilizer market.