US-based animal nutrition product developer Ascus Biosciences completed a $46m series B round on Wednesday that included Cavallo Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of agricultural product and chemical producer Wilbur-Ellis.
The round was led by Singaporean government owned investment firm Temasek and also featured venture capital firm Formation 8 and Anterra Capital, the VC fund backed by financial services firm Rabobank, as well as undisclosed private investors.
Ascus is utilising knowledge of how microbes interact with each other within animals in order to choose microorganisms to develop products. It provides a feed supplement that includes live microbes.
The funding will go to developing new products, advancing its existing pipeline, strengthening its central technology platform and growing its customer service and sales teams.
Ascus CEO Michael Seely said: “Securing this level of funding will help bring Ascus technology to farmers and pet owners seeking newer, safer and more effective microbial solutions at a much larger scale as we continue to grow our sales and customer services footprint in the USA and the world.
“With this financing round, we are now well-equipped to expand and serve our existing and prospective customers while we continue to progress the breakthrough products currently in our research and development pipeline.”
The company had previously raised $12.7m in equity funding in 2016, and $16m in convertible debt financing between 2017 and June 2019, according to regulatory filings. Its existing investors include real estate developer LeFrak.
