Pivot Bio announced the close of a $70 million Series B led by the billion dollar clean energy fund Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and including Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek.
Founded in California by Karsten Temme and Alvin Tamsir, Pivot Bio’s goal from the beginning has been to develop more sustainable and safer replacements for synthetic nitrogen fertilizers.
Working within an understanding of the crop microbiome, Pivot Bio is targeting the biggest source of greenhouse gases on Earth, the nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide released through the use of chemical fertilizers.
Once applied, a small percentage of existing chemical fertilizer breaks down into nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that is 300 times more potent than CO2, and accounts for five percent of global warming. On a wider scope, global pollution linked to fertilizer usage has contributed to more than 500 dead zones, or areas that are so polluted that nothing will grow, the largest of which is at the mouth of the Mississippi River at the Gulf of Mexico, according to the company.
Through its patented approach and long-standing research, Pivot Bio has been able to identify specific microbes in the roots of crops that have the natural ability to produce nitrogen. However, when nitrogen is present in the soil, as it has been for the past century from chemical applications, these microbes naturally shut down their ability to feed plants.
Using its proprietary non-transgenic technology, Pivot Bio has been able to reawaken the ability of these microbes to produce nitrogen, and has developed PROVEN, a product that farmers apply in-furrow at point of planting, that delivers microbes that adhere to the roots of a crop delivering nitrogen to each plant in a timely manner.
“While fertilizer is a critical input for producing enough food to feed the planet, its current use is unsustainable for the farmer and pollutes our environment,” said Karsten Temme, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder, Pivot Bio. “Pivot Bio’s PROVENTM solution helps make farming more efficient and reduce the environmental footprint of fertilizer.”
Currently, PROVEN is the first nitrogen-producing microbe available in the U.S. for corn, and has secured approval in states that account for approximately half of all corn grown in the country. The company is in the process of securing additional state approvals, which are expected to be final in 2018 and 2019.
The potential for Pivot Bio’s technology to disrupt the $200 billion fertilizer market attracted lead investor Breakthrough Energy Ventures – a fund that has more than $1 billion in committed capital to fund scientific breakthroughs that can advance a shift toward clean energy. With this goal, the fund provides flexible and patient capital with a 20-year horizon along with a deep well of scientific expertise to companies active in the five main pillars that contribute the most to greenhouse gasses: electricity, transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, and buildings.
“Pivot Bio is addressing one of the largest sources of GHGs on the planet – the potent nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide emissions associated with the use of synthetic fertilizers,” said Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures. “We’ve been extremely impressed with the team, their differentiated approach to crop nutrition, and their commitment to creating value for the farmer.”
This funding will be used by Pivot Bio to support the expansion of the research and development for its second generation product in the form of a seed treatment; to expand its reach geographically, by being able to introduce its products beyond the U.S. into markets such as Brazil, Canada, and Argentina; and to broaden its product lines into nitrogen producing microbes for crops other than corn, including wheat and rice.
“This round of funding enables Pivot Bio to introduce our products to the world,” said Temme. “We’re excited to deliver a product to farmers that increases their productivity while improving the quality of our air and water through reduced fertilizer-linked pollution.”
-Lynda Kiernan