March 20, 2024

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Corteva Inc. announced it has launched Corteva Catalyst, an investment and partnership platform created to identify and bring to market agricultural innovation with the potential to drive value creation and advance the company’s R&D priorities.

The initial focus will be to access opportunities across four strategic verticals: genome editing; biologicals and natural products; technology platforms; and decision science. Within these segments, Corteva Catalyst will partner with entrepreneurs and innovators to accelerate the development of early-stage, disruptive technologies that enable farmers to sustainably produce more food and feed. 

Corteva itself was formed in 2019 as a spin-off of DowDuPont’s agricultural business, including crop protection and seed and trait operations. The move occurred within a few years of the $130 billion, 50/50 merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont. Upon the closing of the deal, it was announced that the newly formed DowDuPont planned to split into three publicly-traded, independent businesses through a process of tax-free spin-offs.

Over the course of its independent existence, Corteva launched Inatreq™ Active in Cereals in Europe and acquired full ownership of PhytoGen Seed Company LLC, Joint Venture in 2020; constructed its Integrated R&D Center in Eschbach, Germany in 2021 and named Chuck Magro as its new CEO in 2021; secured U.S. EPA registration for its Enlist One® and Enlist Duo® Herbicides through 2029, opened its first Seed Applied Technology Center in Europe, and invested in Africa and Middle East seed treatment capabilities in 2022.

Today, Corteva is a publicly-traded, global pure-play agriculture company that combines cutting-edge innovation, high-touch customer engagement, and operations execution to deliver solutions for some of our most challenging agricultural issues.

The company explained that it generates market preference through its novel distribution strategy and its diverse, yet balanced seed, crop protection, and digital product offerings that encompass some of the world’s most recognized agricultural brands along with a technology pipeline curated to drive growth. 

“Corteva has a long tradition of addressing the critical challenges farmers face around the world by advancing innovation in partnership with the global scientific community,” said Sam Eathington, EVP and chief technology and digital officer, Corteva.

In recent years there has been a flurry of accelerators and venture capital arms launched by globally-scaled companies. This reflects the continued truth that there is a shift occurring within the food and feed sectors that is creating a scenario in which legacy companies need the rapid-response innovation generated by startups as much as startups need the capital and guidance from well-established brands.

The move to launch venture capital arms and accelerator programs or incubators has become a widely used method by some of the world’s largest and most conventional companies to achieve diversification, and to gain a foothold and establish relevance in a swiftly changing market. 

“Through Corteva Catalyst, we will build upon that tradition by pairing our considerable expertise and resources with the agility of start-ups and universities to deliver new solutions for farmers globally. This initiative will expand our pipeline and accelerate growth.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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