Only two years after it raised $17.5 million in venture capital, AgBiome of Research Triangle Park announced today it has raised an additional $34.5 million to fund research and the projected launch of its first product, a natural fungicide for crops and turf grasses.
And just like the original financing round, which attracted the venture capital arms of agbiotech giants Syngenta, Monsanto and Novozymes, AgBiome again finds itself in tall investor cotton in this latest round. Investors include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the University of Texas Investment Management Company, Pontifax Global Food and Agriculture Technology Fund, and previous investors Polaris Partners, ARCH Venture Partners, Harris & Harris Group, Innotech Advisers, Monsanto Growth Ventures and Syngenta Ventures.
“These superb investors joining the syndicate backing AgBiome is evidence of how much the company has accomplished in the 2 ½ years since its founding,” Tom Dietz, chair of AgBiome’s board of directors, said in a news release. “AgBiome is making a huge mark on the ag industry.”
AgBiome analyzes microbes found in and on crop plants and in surrounding soil for their potential use as biological products and as sources of genetic traits that can reduce crop damage and improve yields.
“Poor farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia face tremendous hurdles, such as unproductive soil, plant diseases, pests and drought,” said Vipula Shukla, senior program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “This investment will ensure that AgBiome’s expertise is applied to creating new, affordable tools for these farmers that will protect their staple crops from pests and diseases.”
AgBiome has 50 full-time and part-time employees and will expand that staff in the coming months. It will also add a sales team if it gains regulatory approval by the Environmental Protection Agency of its first product, a biological fungicide named Howler that can be used by organic farmers as an alternative to synthetic chemicals.
Early next year AgBiome will move into a new 30,000-square foot facility under construction in the Park. The office, laboratory and greenhouse complex is scheduled for completion in December.
AgBiome was founded in 2012 by six plant scientists and entrepreneurs with experience at other agbiotech companies in the area.
The company has formed several partnerships with major companies for product research and development. The most recent agreement, announced in July, is a partnership with Genective, a French developer of biotech corn seed, to discover new ways of controlling crop insects.
“The combination of marquee investors, our R&D partnerships, and the terrific team we are continuing to build puts us in a unique position to be the most successful agricultural innovator ever,” said Andrew Graham, chief financial officer of AgBiome.
(C) N.C. Biotechnology Center
