The only deal in a quiet week for agtech fundings is Agrivida, a biotech startup in the animal nutrition industry. The startup has raised $20.4 million in Series E funding, in a first close for the round.
The University of Texas Investment Management Company led the round and was joined by existing investors ARCH Venture Partners, Cultivian Sandbox, Middleland Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Northgate Capital.
The funds will be used to advance the commercialization of Agrivida’s patented Grainzyme feed additive enzymes for poultry and swine, and to support product development for dairy and beef cattle.
The new round of capital will also be used to help Agrivida advance its regulatory and product development programs, and to execute a go-to-market commercialization plan for its patented Grainzyme Phytase technology. This system uses protein expression and storage in grain to simplify the process of enzyme production.
“We’ve had great results from the product on feed conversion, body weight, and meat quality, presenting an ROI to our customers,” Dan Meagher, CEO, told AgFunderNews in March. “It’s a very unique platform using the corn plant as the factory, which offers a more cost effective production system, and an ROI to the potential customer. We think this represents a paradigm shift in animal nutrition as we will be dosing animals at much higher levels than the industry does today.”
The company expects to introduce its new products to the feed enzyme market in early 2017, making it the first full year of revenues. According to Research and Markets, this segment was valued at $1.1 billion in 2015, with an annual growth rate of 7 percent.
For top funding news from the summer, go to last week’s round-up here.
