Somewhere in rural America, an entrepreneur’s dream of making farming easier, faster, and better just got a bit more realistic.
In April, the USDA announced two new “Rural Business Investment Companies” or RBICs, headed by venture capital firms Innova Memphis of Memphis, Tenn., and Meritus Kirchner Capital, which has offices in Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.
“These two new private funds will provide innovative small businesses throughout rural America access to the capital they need to grow and create jobs,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “At USDA, we are working hard to reenergize the rural economy, and we are enlisting more and more private sector partners to help achieve that goal.”