SGS acquires stake in AgFlow

AgFlow SA, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, operates a trade intelligence platform aggregating Over-The-Counter (OTC) market data on global grains, oilseeds/proteins and edible oils.

Launched as a paid service in September 2014, the company serves 140 customers in 40 countries with data services.

The strategic investment will help AgFlow to bring transparency on the physical agricultural markets at a global scale.

SGS’ market research and information services range from pre-farm gate to the primary processing stage and cover production trends, crop conditions, quality maps at time of harvest, global trade flows and monitoring of undesirable substances or contaminants.

Olivier Coppey, EVP for agriculture, food and life at SGS, will join AgFlow SA’s board of directors and Gennadiy Shulga, VP of business development will join the advisory board.

Siavosh Arasteh, co-founder and CEO of AgFlow SA, said: “In the past 24 months, AgFlow has built a rich global market network and generated unprecedented transparency on OTC markets across grains, oilseeds/proteins and edible oils. ​

“Having the domain expertise of SGS will strengthen our credibility and help us execute our vision more rapidly and broadly.” ​

Nalco increases capabilities​

Meanwhile, Ecolab, the parent company of Nalco Water, has made a minority equity investment in Aquatech International.

The firm did not disclose the percentage of equity or the price of the investment.

Christophe Beck, Ecolab EVP and president of Nalco Water, said diminishing access to clean water is one of the greatest risks facing the world.

“This relationship with Aquatech brings technologies and design and engineering capabilities that further expand our ability to provide the most advanced and robust total water management solutions to our customers.”​

Aquatech is privately owned and designs and engineers water treatment systems to improve water quality and reduce net water usage.

The firm also provides technologies for the reuse and recycling of water in industrial settings.

It has offices in North America and a presence worldwide through subsidiaries in Europe, the Middle East, India and China.