AAA Provivi reaps $85m in series C round

Provivi reaps $85m in series C round

Provivi, a US-based developer of non-toxic pesticides, has picked up $85m in a series C round featuring BASF Venture Capital, the corporate venturing subsidiary of chemical producer BASF, AgFunderNews reported today.

The round was co-led by venture capital fund Pontifax Global Food and Agriculture Technology Fund and Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek, and included Tybourne Capital Management, Kairos Ventures, Spruce Capital and Lanx Capital.

Founded in 2012, Provivi is working on pesticide alternatives that rely on insect pheromones to confuse pests, preventing them from finding and mating with each other, thus thwarting their destruction of crops.

The pheromones are adapted to specific species, avoiding the unnecessary death of organisms that pose no threat. Chemical pesticides, which are common today, tend to kill organisms on a farm indiscriminately, potentially causing serious issues for the wider environment.

The series C funding will support Provivi as it looks to commercialise a direct-to-farmer product for fall armyworm, a type of moth whose larvae are capable of damaging a wide range of crops from peanuts and oranges and apples to rice or tobacco.

The moth has particularly afflicted corn crops in Latin America but is also active in West Africa and across Asia, regions where it has been classified as an invasive species.

Kairos Ventures led Provivi’s series B round, which closed at $36.5m in November 2018, investing together with BASF Venture Capital, DuPont Pioneer – now a subsidiary of agricultural chemical producer Corteva Agriscience – Spruce Capital and unnamed existing backers.

The company had raised $7.5m in a September 2015 series A round led by MLS Capital Fund II, a vehicle co-managed by Spruce Capital and Xeraya Capital, and backed by unnamed existing investors. It had closed a $1m seed round six months earlier according to a regulatory filing.

By Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is editor-at-large of Global University Venturing and Global Corporate Venturing, and host of the Beyond the Breakthrough podcast.

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