July 19, 2021

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Open Prairie has led a $22 million initial close on a Series C for Comet Bio, a tech-driven manufacturer of unique, healthy, sustainable ingredients using its proprietary upcycling technology. 

Other investors joining the round include Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), BDC Capital, and existing investor Sofinnova Partners.

“LDCI’s goal is to enhance the company’s exposure to innovative technology, products, and services in a structured way,” Max Clegg, head of LDC Innovations told GAI News in an interview in December 2020.

“We see tremendous potential for nutritious ingredients from upcycled agricultural materials and believe Comet Bio is well-positioned to capture this opportunity,” said Clegg.

Headquartered in Ontario, Canada, and Schaumburg, Illinois, Comet Bio uses its patented technology to produce innovative ingredients. Its Arrabina Arabinoxylan Plant Fiber Extract is a prebiotic dietary fiber clinically proven to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut, help maintain healthy blood glucose levels, and support immunity. And its line of Sweeterra syrups offers sustainable and lower sugar alternatives to traditional sweeteners without sacrificing taste or performance. 

“According to Global Market Insights, the prebiotic category is valued at close to $6B and is expected to exceed 10 percent CAGR in coming years,” said Rich Troyer, CEO, Comet Bio.

“We have seen firsthand the growing consumer demand for ingredients that address gut health and sugar reduction,” he continued. “In addition, every single food company we’re talking to is looking to reduce food system waste. These strategic investor partnerships will enable us to meet this significant market opportunity and take Comet Bio to the next level.”

Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund

Open Prairie’s participation in this round was executed through its Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund – a vehicle operating as a USDA-licensed Rural Business Investment Company (RBIC), which completed its final close at $81 million in February 2019.

Under its mandate, the fund has identified multiple key sub-sectors along the agribusiness value chain that represent investment opportunities, including soil, water and crop technologies, monitoring, sensor and data analytics platforms, food safety, and value-added processing and manufacturing.

Structured as a balanced private equity fund offering debt and equity capital of between $2 and $10 million to growth and later-stage companies within the food and agribusiness value chain, the Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund was established as a vehicle geared to capitalize upon projected world population growth to 9 billion; a 70 percent increase in caloric demand; and crop demand growth of more than 100 percent by 2050.

Aligning with this mission, Comet Bio states that it reclaims and purifies lost nutrients, with a vision for the future where each farm’s entire harvest is utilized to make high-quality products.

The company partners with farmers and food companies to source organic and non-GMO byproducts, and then combines off-the-shelf processing equipment with novel engineering to produce ingredients that are zero-waste, non-GMO, and that have a lifecycle footprint that is below traditional mainstream counterparts.

Tom Doxsie, partner, Open Prairie commented, “Open Prairie is excited to leverage its team expertise and network to advance commercialization of Comet Bio’s ingredient technology platform and to facilitate diversification of US-focused distribution channels that benefit the Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund’s investment objective of catalyzing growth for agriculture and rural America.”

With the capital from this round, Comet Bio will strive toward commercialization through a dedicated manufacturing facility, enabling them to strengthen its supply to meet significant market demand.

“Since its inception, we have been impressed by Comet Bio’s ability to identify and produce unique, sustainable ingredients in high demand and look forward to continuing to support the management team as they accelerate commercialization,” Joško Bobanović, partner,  Sofinnova Partners.

This sentiment was echoed by the director of BDC Capital’s Cleantech Practice, Matt Stanley, who added, “We are excited to support an innovative Canadian agtech company to accelerate the commercialization of its novel upcycling technology to convert agricultural waste into healthy and sustainable food ingredients.”

– Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor 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 Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.