AgBiome, a US-based agricultural technology developer backed by corporates Monsanto, Bayer, Novozymes and Syngenta, collected $116m in series D funding yesterday.
The round was co-led by venture capital firm Novalis LifeSciences and investment firm Blue Horizon while undisclosed new and existing investors also contributed to the financing.
AgBiome has developed the Genesis platform, which is able to identify the gene sequences and strains of microbial life that could potentially protect agricultural crops from pests and disease.
The company has also created a fungicide that can protect against more than 300 combinations of crop disease. It was spun out from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2013.
Scott Uknes, co-founder and co-CEO of AgBiome, said: “With this capital, AgBiome is well-positioned to execute on its strategic business model focused on developing proprietary products, fostering partner programmes, joint ventures and new company formations, all of which represent significant growth opportunities for AgBiome.”
AgBiome plans to use the series D funding to expand its product portfolio and grow its scientific and commercial activities.
Monsanto Growth Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of agrochemical group Monsanto, took part in a $65m series C round for the company in 2018 that included University of Texas System’s investment unit, University of Texas Investment Management Company (Utimco).
The series C round was also backed by investment and financial services group Fidelity, Polaris Partners, Arch Venture Partners, Innotech Advisers, Pontifax Global Food and Agriculture Technology Fund.
AgBiome had raised $34.5m in a 2015 series B round featuring Monsanto Growth Ventures and Syngenta Ventures, the investment arm of agricultural product provider Syngenta, in addition to Utimco, Arch Venture Partners, Pontifax, Polaris, Innotech, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Harris & Harris Group.
Polaris led a $14.5m series A round for AgBiome in 2013, investing together with Monsanto, Syngenta, Arch Venture Partners, Harris & Harris and Innotech. Its investors also include pharmaceutical and chemical group Bayer’s Leaps by Bayer subsidiary and biotechnology developer Novozymes, according to its website.