December 16, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

U.S. agbiotech startup and global crop nutrition company Boost Biomes announced that Japanese investor Universal Materials Incubator (UMI) has extended the company’s Series A round with an additional $2 million commitment. 

The equity round, which was led by Yara International and included existing investors Viking Global Investors and Y Combinator, among others, initially closed in June of this year. And with the addition of UMI to the list of backers, now stands in excess of $7.5 million. 

Launched with $2.5 million in Seed capital from Nimble Ventures and Viking Global, Boost Biomes was founded by biotech veterans Rob McBride, Jamie Bacher, and Adam Arkin to identify commercially viable microbial products, with an initial focus on improving yield in the field and reducing spoilage after harvest.

According to the academic paper “Functional Soil Microbiome: Belowground Solutions to an Aboveground Problem” by Venkatachalam Lakshmanan, Gopinath Selvaraj, and Harsh P. Bais from the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Delaware, the plant microbiome encompasses the “diverse functional gene pool, originating from viruses, prokaryotes, and eukaryotes, associated with various habitats of a plant host. Such plant habitats range from the whole organism (individual plants) to specific organs (e.g. roots, leaves, shoots, flowers, and seeds, including zones of interaction between roots and the surrounding soil).” This symbiotic relationship can protect plants from disease, drought, and insect attacks and prevent plants from drying out during extended droughts.

Boost Biomes’ proprietary microbiome technology platform enables the advanced understanding of the interactions that occur in this microbial system and engineers novel microbial products for the improvement of crop yields and quality in both traditional field production and indoor or non-traditional soil farms, and extend the shelf life and safety of the foods produced.

“Boost’s platform technology is hard at work,” said Jamie Bacher, CEO, Boost Biomes. “We are developing an exciting portfolio of advanced microbial products for use in food production and after harvest. We’ll look for opportunities to work with strategic or distribution partners to develop and commercialize these novel products. Working with UMI to advance these opportunities in Japan and the region will be a huge advantage for Boost.”

The additional funding secured from UMI will further enable Boost to develop its product pipeline, and enhance its technology platform with the generation of new crop protection, crop nutrition, food safety, soil health, and food preservation products.

“UMI’s decision to invest in Boost comes from our evaluation of their team, technology, and the associated market opportunities,” said Yota Hayama and Hiroaki Goto, venture capitalists with UMI. “We believe that Boost’s platform generates a unique data set that can be exploited for far superior products with many diverse microbiome applications in food and agriculture.  These are critical areas to achieve food security and promote sustainable agriculture. We also expect Boost’s huge potential on other areas where microbiomes are utilized.”

– 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.