April 11, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Moroccan university Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and fertilizer giant and the largest producer of phosphate fertilizer in the world, OCP Group, have made a $200 million capital commitment to Bidra Innovation Ventures – a $250 million venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California, and Ben Guerir, Morocco.

This move comes one year after Bidra launched a $50 million fund focused on agriculture that was backed by the same partners, with this subsequent $200 million commitment enabling Bidra to expand its investment scope to include innovations in energy, agriculture, water, and mining. 

“UM6P recognizes the role innovation must play to sustainably solve global challenges,” said Amar Singh, head of group, Bidra Innovation Ventures. “We are grateful for UM6P’s visionary leadership and support as we continue to back innovators forging the future via sustainable technologies for Africa and beyond.”

Based in Morocco, OCP Group has a current presence on five continents, where they work closely with more than 350 global clients providing essential elements for soil health and plant growth. After a century in business offering a wide range of specialty phosphate fertilizers, the company saw turnover of $9.4 billion in 2021.

In December 2022, OCP Group launched a massive $13 billion Green Investment Strategy – a new, ambitious program for 2023-2027 centered upon increasing fertilizer production capacities from the current 12 million tons to 20 million tons by 2027, while also achieving full carbon neutrality by 2040 by investing in green fertilizers and renewable energy. 

The companies invested in by Bidra will not only benefit from financial backing, but also will be strengthened by UM6P and OCP Group’s domain expertise and widespread, global footprints, positioning portfolio companies to gain the three key inputs critical to every startup: talent, customers, and capital.

“Having OCP’s support is a tremendous advantage because now we can extend OCP’s regional know-how and distribution capacity to startups that are ready to scale.”

Likewise, UM6P is a hub for education, research, innovation, and entrepreneurship that strives to build collaborations with universities around the world. Taking a modernized approach to education through experimentation and practice, the university is fostering the future of development across Africa and beyond. 

“This fund will expand our investment in reducing the carbon footprint of the agriculture industry, while tackling the challenges of food security, urbanization and industrialization,” said Hicham El Habti, president, UM6P and Board Chair of Bidra. “Supporting Bidra’s efforts is part of UM6P’s commitment to investing in sustainable agriculture and the training of a new generation of entrepreneurs and leaders, and positioning Morocco and Africa at the forefront of research and technology.”

Over the course of the past year, Bidra has invested Niqo Robotics, a startup using robotics to reduce chemical usage; Agrospheres, a biopesticide producer in Africa; Pattern Ag, a soil biology and diagnostics technology company offering customized fertility recommendations; Apollo Agriculture, a digital store-front for farmers in Kenya to access hard-to-find crop inputs; and Travertine, a startup using electrochemical technology to permanently sequester carbon and produce sulfuric acid by recycling phosphogypsum.

At Niqo Robotics, we are pioneering a sustainable revolution in agriculture through AI powered agricultural robots,” said Jaisimha Rao, founder and CEO, Niqo Robotics. “Our proprietary green on green spot spray robots use real time, AI-assisted computer vision to selectively spray chemicals on plants resulting in up to 60 percent chemical savings and limiting the environmental impact of excess chemical usage. With the support of Bidra, UM6P and OCP Group, we continue to develop our robotic technology to benefit farmers in emerging markets that currently rely on outdated methods and manual labor.”

Rob Hranac, CEO of Pattern Ag, added, “Bidra shares our belief that soil analysis plays a vital role in the future of green farming. We are eager to continue our work, expanding our reach ensuring our technology can benefit rural communities around the world with comprehensive macro and micronutrient analysis.”

~ 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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