Kaspera is focused on the microbe-based biofertilizer and biopesticide markets with patented technology enabling the encapsulation of the microbes.
The duo is hoping to smash one of the biggest barriers to biologics adoption by providing farmers with a way to cultivate living microbial inputs on the farm that cannot survive in the current supply chain without cold storage.
General Mills, Anheuser-Busch, and Tyson have announced major sustainability initiatives in recent weeks aimed at encouraging producers to adopt different farming practices while increasing consumer education.
Motif will focus on providing food companies with ingredients for their growing alternative protein product lines in the plant-based and meat alternative space. It will also use Ginkgo’s science and technology to design and engineer new cells to develop other new food formats.
ADM Ventures is purposeful about the types of companies it considers investing in.
As the cannabis industry continues to expand, growers are looking for ways to increase crop yield and quality.
Zymergen is not wholly focused on agriculture but it’s a significant part of its business and drove early demand for its molecular products that aim to replace petroleum-based products and other environmentally-damaging ingredients with a biological alternative.
“Pivot Bio is addressing one of the largest sources of GHGs on the planet – the potent nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide emissions associated with the use of synthetic fertilizers,” said Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
Bayer and Ginkgo Bioworks announced the partnership in September 2017. The partners jointly invested $100 million in the venture, making the deal the second largest deal from an Ag Biotechnology startup in 2017, according to the AgFunder data.
Andressa Lacerda, cofounder and CCO of Noblegen, a Canadian biotech startup met her cofounder Adam Noble when he was a teenager and she was in her twenties, just seven years ago. Since they have raised nearly $10 million and built their own fermentation facility.
Novolyze develops and manufactures microorganisms to improve food safety validation processes for food processors and manufacturers.
The new funding will go toward building out the company’s “Bioworks3” production facility and branching out into more industries beyond the company’s mainstays of agriculture and pharmaceuticals.
The startup spun out of Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), the life sciences research institute founded by the Flemish Government in 1995, and raised all the funding from local Belgian investors.
Ginkgo Bioworks, a startup genetically engineering microbes for partner companies in the flavor, fragrance and food industries, has raised $100 million in Series C funding from a variety of late-stage investors.
Microbial DNA maker Zymergen recently announced a $42M Series A led by Data Collective, with a group of investors participating, including AME Cloud Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurveston,
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