AgBiome, a US-based developer of agricultural products to improve crop productivity, secured $34.5m in series B funding yesterday from investors including agrochemical company Monsanto and agribusiness Syngenta.
The companies invested through their Monsanto Growth Ventures and Syngenta Ventures units.
The round also featured University of Texas Investment Management Company, the investment vehicle of University of Texas System, Arch Venture Partners, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Pontifax Global Food and Agriculture Technology Fund, Polaris Partners, Harris & Harris Group and Innotech Advisers.
AgBiome is currently awaiting regulatory approval for its first product, a fungicide, and expects to launch sales in 2016. The series B funding will support the commercial launch of the product, as well as research and development of further products.
Monsanto, Syngenta, Arch, Harris & Harris and Innotech previously contributed to a $14.5m series A round in 2013 that was led by Polaris.
Andrew Graham, chief financial officer of AgBiome, said: “We could not be happier about adding these great new investors to the AgBiome family.
“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.”
– A version of this article originally appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.