Columbus, Ohio-based bioagtech startup 3Bar Biologics announced it has raised $2 million in funding through a round that includes Rev1 Ventures, Maumee Ventures, Ohio TechAngel Funds, Queen City Angels, Carmen Innovations, and SVG Thrive Fund.

Dedicated to developing ecologically friendly biological products that can safely and sustainably increase crop yields, 3Bar’s first product – Bio-YIELD – is a patented all-natural microbial inoculant delivery systems that is designed to stimulate a plant’s defenses, resulting in higher yields across a range of growing conditions.

Bio-YIELD is built upon 15 years of research at The Ohio State University, and uses living microbes found in local fields. The microbes are activated on-site by farmers by just pressing a button, and then begin multiplying when they come in contact with a growth solution. When applied to seeds, each drop contains millions of microbes that grow with the plant, according to the company.

“The possibilities for 3Bar’s technology are limitless,” said Jane Fife, chief science officer at 3Bar. “The use of more effective beneficial microbes is a giant leap forward for the industry, and we believe there are many other potential use cases. We are dedicated to delivering the most viable microbes to farmers worldwide.”

SVG Thrive Fund Cohort

3Bar is also one of 10 chosen agtech startups announced on August 11 to be included in THRIVE AgTech accelerator’s third cohort.

Very quickly, THRIVE AgTech has become the fastest growing agtech accelerator platform in the world, with corporate partners that include Taylor Farms, Land O’Lakes, Western Growers Association, Verizon, Driscoll’s Berries, Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory, Panasonic, Wells Fargo, the City of Salinas, PMA, and Sun World Innovations.

Each of the 10 chosen seed stage companies participating in the 8-week program will receive a $50,000 cash investment with another $50,000 in program value. Startups will have access to classroom and online training in business planning, strategy, marketing, supply chain, finance, fundraising, and communication. They also will receive guidance through a mentorship program, co-working space at the Western Growers’ Innovation Center in Salinas, California, and the ability to conduct field trials with THRIVE’s corporate partners.

Hot Biologicals

A shrinking base of arable farmland, a pressing demand by consumers and environmental groups for more sustainable agricultural production methods, and a higher level of willingness by farmers to adopt new systems that can result in higher yields while being environmentally safe, have brought the biologicals category onto the radar of investors resulting in more common and more significant funding rounds within the nascent category.

Expectations are that the biofertilizer market will grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.08 percent reaching an estimated market value of $2.3 billion by 2020, while the agricultural biologicals testing market is expected to grow at a rate of 10.4 percent, reaching a value of $1.1 billion by 2021, according to Markets and Markets. In addition, the biostiumlants market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10.4 percent, reaching a value of $2.9 billion by 2021, with the area of application expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.7 percent, reaching 24.9 million hectares by 2021.

In December 2016, The BioAg Alliance – a partnership that brings together Novozyme’s operations and capabilities in microbial discovery, development, and production with Monsanto’s microbial advanced biology, field testing, and commercial capabilities – announced the launch of world’s first upstream corn inoculant Acceleron® B-300 SAT.

“Harnessing the power of nature’s microbes, farmers will be able to produce more crops while using fertilizer more efficiently and producing less CO2,” said Colin Bletsky, Novozymes’ vice president for BioAg at the time. “This will benefit agriculture, consumers and the environment.”

Then in March of this year, Inocucor Technologies, a Montreal-based producer of sustainable microbial crop accelerators, announced the finalization of a C$38.8 million (US$29 million) Series B led by TPG Alternative and Renewable Technologies (TPG ART) – a late stage, growth equity venture vehicle managed by alternative asset firm TPG. The round also included Closed Loop Capital – a venture capital firm focused on early stage funding of agtech and food system innovations; Desjardins Innovatech, the venture capital unit of Desjardins, one of the top cooperative financial groups in Canada with more than $200 billion in assets, and Montreal-based Cycle Capital Management – a clean tech venture capital firm that has been an early investor in Inocucor since 2013.

More recently, just last month, agricultural biologicals company NewLeaf Symbiotics announced it has successfully closed a $24 million Series C co-led by Monsanto Growth Ventures (MGV) and Otter Capital, and also including Lewis & Clark Ventures, Rockport Capital, Pangaea Ventures, and Open Prairie Ventures among others – and Church & Dwight, the parent company of Arm & Hammer, acquired Milwaukee-based Agro BioSciences, a microbial biotechnology startup, for $75 million, with a potential additional $25 million earnout dependent on future business performance.

For 3Bar, BioYIELD not only delivers on the ecological and sustainability fronts, but also delivers a five times return on investment for farmers.

“We made an early investment in 3Bar because we saw the promise of their research-backed offering and their unwavering commitment to providing farmers with a solution that works,” said Dave Bergeron, SVP Venture Development at Rev1 Ventures.

 

-Lynda Kiernan

Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to GAI News. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.