June 26, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has led a $45 million Series B for Massachusetts-based Enko Chem, a developer of novel, next-generation crop protection solutions.

This round also included existing investors Anterra Capital and Rabo Food & Agri Innovation Fund, and new investors Finistere Ventures, Novalis LifeSciences, Germin8 Ventures, and TO Ventures Food.

“We are thrilled that our novel approach, which builds in safety measures from the start to keep us ahead of future needs, has attracted support from this top-tier group of investors,” said Jacqueline Heard, CEO of Enko.

This Series B lifted total funding to-date for Enko to $66 million and has enabled the official launch of the company, reinvigorating an industry that has seen a flat-lining of its R&D in the face of stricter regulatory standards, higher performance benchmarks, and increasing pest resistance. 

“Resistance issues have been plaguing agriculture production for years, but the industry has been slow to innovate,” said Heard. “Delivering safer, lower use rate products that provide good returns for farmers needs to be the rule and not the exception.”

“Development pipelines for new agriculture chemicals have atrophied,” added Spencer Maughan, co-founder and partner, Finistere Ventures. “A lack of new discovery platforms has increased costs, and rising regulation has taken the spotlight off of traditional chemistry. Reinvigorating traditional ag chemistry, Enko’s technology is one-of-a-kind and will help move the needle on crop protection to secure the food supply chain.”

Founded in 2017 and incubated by Anterra Capital, Enko takes a revolutionary approach, and uses its proprietary technology platform to rapidly discover and develop novel, safe, and economical products for farmers to protect their crops from pests and diseases in order to ensure sustainable food production. 

Enko employs selective discovery and green chemistry to mitigate waste and pollution. It aims for optimized performance in key geographies, monitors and counteracts resistance, engages in farmer training and education, integrated pest management, and product stewardship, to achieve improved soil health, a reduction in deforestation, increased resilience in the face of climate change, and higher crop yields.

“The global food system is highly complex, and we continuously face new and evolving threats to our food security,” said Richard O’Gorman, managing director, Rabo Food & Agri Innovation Fund. “We have an urgent need for next-generation agrochemical solutions that meet the needs of today’s environmentally aware growers and consumers. Enko aims to solve this by delivering diverse, effective, and safe products at unprecedented speed, disrupting the crop protection market with its deep pipeline and scalability, to sustainably meet the escalating demands on food production.”

Through its platform that uses predictive analytical tools and advanced pharmaceutical discovery, Enko is actively advancing solutions that provide novel modes of action – the first of which are approaching field testing and regulatory trials. At the same time, the company continues to strengthen and extend its research and strategic partnerships with industry leaders. 

“Enko’s integrated technology platform represents the most disruptive change in the industry in decades,” said Steffen Helmling, CBO, X-Chem. “Deploying DNA-encoded library technology in combination with advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence, Enko simultaneously tests targets against 120 billion compounds – accelerating time to market while reducing R&D costs and ensuring the highest safety standards. Enko’s powerful discovery platform enables the rapid pursuit of new modes of actions to fill the innovation void.”

Critical to Enko’s launch is timing. Currently more than 600 pest species have developed some kind of resistance, threatening yield losses of as much as 40 percent. At the same time, innovation pipelines have stalled, creating an especially complex challenge for farmers in emerging countries and regions. 

“Smallholder farmers are the backbone of the agricultural economy in these regions,” noted Dr. Vipula Shukla, senior program officer, Agriculture, with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, “…so working with innovative companies like Enko Chem to equip them with better ways to fight these threats is crucial to building their resilience to climate impacts on food and feed production.”

The funds garnered through this round will be used by Enko to expand its technology platform, and to rapidly develop its pipeline of novel crop protection products for the benefit of society and the environment.

“Many startups aim to help drive a more food-secure, responsible and efficient agriculture system, but most innovations cannot meaningfully move the needle – especially in the developing world,” said Michael Lavin, founder and managing partner, Germin8 Ventures. “An ambitious game changer tackling agriculture’s most mission-critical needs on the global playing field, Enko is re-inventing the agrochemicals development pipeline to deliver superior, safe, accessible solutions for all.”

Lavin continued, “Enko is re-inventing the R&D pipeline of crop protection – unlocking value for Agchem companies needing to enrich their development pipelines, farmers demanding new reliable crop protection solutions, and all stakeholders clamoring for safe and sustainable farming. Enko gives chemistry the next-gen reboot that it needs, with a cutting-edge arsenal of tools to develop better protection for crops so we can safely nourish the world.”

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.