Monsanto Growth Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of agribusiness Monsanto, co-led a $24m series C round for US-based plant bacteria product developer NewLeaf Symbiotics on Monday with private equity firm Otter Capital.
The round also featured venture capital firms Lewis & Clark Ventures, Rockport Capital and Pangaea Ventures, private equity fund manager Open Prairie Ventures and unnamed additional investors.
Founded in 2013, NewLeaf is developing plant bacteria products for use in areas such as seed treatments for crops like wheat, corn, soybeans and peanuts.
The funding will go to commercialising NewLeaf’s products, expanding its bioinformatics platform and tripling the size of its R&D and pilot manufacturing plant in Missouri.
Tom Laurita, chief executive of NewLeaf, said: “Agriculture is undergoing deep technological and structural change. This investment affirms the importance of biologicals and validates NewLeaf’s strategy in this emerging space.
“Industry consolidation is reshuffling the major players and we are working closely with several of the most forward-looking companies to integrate our products and technology into their product platforms. We are grateful to our current and new investors for their support.”
NewLeaf has now raised approximately $48m in equity funding and $4.8m in debt financing, according to press releases and securities filings.
RockPort Capital, Open Prairie Ventures and Pangaea Ventures provided $7m in series A funding for NewLeaf in 2013 before participating in a $17m series B led by Otter Capital the following year.