By Lynda Kiernan
Crop Enhancement, an innovative developer of sustainable, bio-compatible agrochemical products that protect crops and boost yields, has raised $8 million through a Series B led by Spruce Capital Partners.
Additional participants in the round included Andrew Chung’s 1955 Capital, Phoenix Venture Partners, Cavallo Ventures, and new investors Davinia Investments, and Alexandria Ventures.
Since 2011 the company has been working to create a new sustainable method by which farmers can increase sustainability, yields, and returns. Intersecting materials science and biology, Crop Enhancement develops proprietary, sustainable bio-compatible chemistries that when sprayed using conventional farm equipment, can protect plant surfaces, leaves, stems, and fruit, to significantly improve resistance to pests and diseases and reduce the need for synthetic pesticides and herbicides.
The company’s first product, CropCoat®, which can be applied in conjunction with other inputs such as crop nutrients, offers effective modes of action that have demonstrated yield protection and improvement compared to synthetic agrochemicals.
In field trials, CropCoat® has already demonstrated its efficacy and viability by achieving a range of milestones across multiple valuable crops, including:
~ Coffee: protection against coffee berry borer, coffee leaf miner insects, and coffee leaf rust
~ Almonds – protection against navel orangeworm
~ Cacao – protection against mirid and cocoa pod borer insects, and black pod mold.
Looking ahead to the 2020 season, further field trials are planned on grapes, apples, broccoli, onions, and tomatoes.
This funding will be used by the company to broaden these field trials across high-value fruit and vegetable crops, to forge strategic partnerships with agrochemical companies and regional distributors, and to drive regulatory initiatives in the U.S., the EU, Brazil, and Central America.
“This latest financing reflects the successful de-risking of multiple aspects of our business: we’ve advanced our core technology, brought in top talent, addressed regulatory requirements, and cultivated several market-entry approaches,” said Kevin Chen, Ph.D., CEO, Crop Enhancement.
“Helping growers protect or enhance crop yield is even more important during the current crisis. We are grateful for the support of our investor syndicate and look forward to welcoming other like-minded organizations and investors to join our mission.”
Links in the Chain
Using biologically friendly compounds to create a spray, or coating to protect crops and foods is gaining traction and investor capital – however, we are seeing it being applied by different startups at different points along the supply chain.
As we see Crop Enhancement’s technology being applied in the field, there are other companies who are using similar technologies down the supply chain.
Apeel Sciences raised $70 million in funding led by Viking Global Investors in the summer of 2018 in support of its method of extracting molecules from organic agricultural waste and byproducts – such as grape skins that remain after wine production processing or banana peels, leaves, or stems left over after harvesting – to create undetectable edible barriers derived from natural plant extracts. These barriers significantly slow the process of decay of fresh produce, making each piece of fruit its own microclimate and extending shelf life without refrigeration, a controlled atmosphere, or preservatives.
Likewise, Massachusetts-based Cambridge Crops raised $4 million in the summer of 2019 to advance its work in using a natural protein that is extracted from silk through a water-based process, Cambridge Crops has developed a solution that can be applied to the surface of a food item, forming an undetectable protective layer.
This layer which is applied through a wash or coating station at any point in the supply chain, is edible, tasteless, and does not alter the food in any manner. It extends shelf-life by preventing oxidation, improving water prevention, and slowing microbial growth, and has been proven effective on a range of foods from fresh produce to meat and fish.
“Today’s consumers are increasingly aware of and concerned about how their food was grown and made. In response, the agriculture and food industries are investing in new approaches to improve production,” said Greg Young, managing director, Spruce Capital Partners. “That’s why we’re so excited about Crop Enhancement, whose technology provides growers with crop protection solutions that employ softer and safer chemistries.”
– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.