Agricultural biotech company continues to expand its portfolio with unwavering support from investors
Agri-biotechnology company Front Range Biosciences announced that it has completed an $8.5 million Insider Round with participation from key investors including Militello Capital, Welcan Capital, AFI Capital, Phyto Partners, Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of New York, New York Angels, Sand Hill Angels XVI, LLC, Arcadian Capital Management, Halley Venture Partners LP and Salveo Capital, as well as other returning investors.
The round was oversubscribed with tremendous support from existing investors, highlighting the company’s growth trajectory from those who know FRB best. The Insider Round increases FRB’s pace of expansion for its Clean Stock® program, breeding program and intellectual property portfolio.
Vikas Desai, Founder and Partner at Welcan Capital said, “FRB is not just keeping up with the industry, it’s defining it. The ability to execute on their exponential growth plan, while developing innovative products to meet thriving market demand, proves FRB is an industry pace-setter and in position to remain the leader amongst the competition.”
Jon Vaught, CEO and Co-Founder of Front Range Biosciences said, “The continued global advancement of cannabis legalization is creating an opportunity for unprecedented growth and innovation in agriculture. The introduction of cannabis to the agricultural market as a new crop with medical, nutritional and industrial applications presents a unique opportunity for us to use modern biotechnology to provide sustainable solutions for farmers around the world.”
With the explosive growth of both the hemp and cannabis industries, the biotech race to provide high-quality genetics is in full swing. Supply for reliable, clean cannabis plants leveraging tissue culture technology is still less than 1% of total demand. FRB is driving the advancement of hemp and cannabis agriculture with its innovative varietal development platform and Clean Stock program that provides growers with best in class solutions for this exciting new crop. The Insider Round enables FRB to expand its lead over new entrants in the space, propelled by data-driven innovation and an unparalleled team of deeply experienced experts. By expanding hemp seed production both nationally and globally, alongside its young plant program, FRB’s production capabilities will multiply in 2020.
Bill Militello, Founder of Militello Capital said, “The management team at FRB continues to grow and accumulate decades of expertise in the agricultural and biotech sectors. With the acquisition of the Steep Hill genomics R&D team, FRB expands its leadership position and provides unparalleled benefits to the industry.”
Chi-Chien Hou, Managing Director at AFI Capital Partners said, “FRB continues to build on its position as the leader in agricultural biotech for the hemp and cannabis industries. The combination of FRB’s robust breeding program and their scaled tissue culture propagation results in tangible benefits for its customers by generating rigorous plants with higher yields and more selective expression.”
In conjunction with renowned research facilities such as CRAG and UC Davis, FRB’s expanded R&D program is commercializing valuable, unique traits such as disease resistance and yield.
