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HomePosts Tagged "Radicle Growth"
Agrotech, Biofuel industry, Company News, Environment, Sustainability, World

The search is on for AgTech Start-ups Advancing Natural and Biological Control Solutions for Sustainable Food Systems

UPL and Radicle Growth, have announced the Radicle Natural Plant Protection (NPP) Challenge by UPL. The Challenge sets out to invest $1.75M in start-up companies that are advancing natural and biological solutions to protect crops from biotic stresses such as bacteria, fungi, nematodes, insects, arachnids, and weeds and follows ‘The Radicle Carbon and Soil Challenge by UPL’ which saw $1.25 million invested in early-stage companies in 2022.

NPP is a business unit of UPL, offering growers an extensive portfolio of natural solutions to increase crop resilience and protection, improve nutrition, and support soil health. Over the past decade, there has been a growing demand for natural solutions as an alternative or complement to synthetic chemistries as means of protecting crops whilst safeguarding the environment.

Mike Frank, CEO of UPL Corporation Ltd. Said, “Amidst the multitude of challenges facing farmers and food systems, natural solutions are critical to advancing agriculture in a way that delivers prosperity for growers, consumers, and the environment. Guided by our OpenAg purpose, we’re thrilled to be working with Radicle Growth to seek out start-ups that are pioneering the next generation of game-changing solutions. We invite entrepreneurs who share our aspirations to apply and join our journey to Reimagine Sustainability.”

Kirk Haney, Managing Partner, Radicle Growth, said, “Feeding our growing population is of utmost importance. We recognise that to transform our agriculture system and advance sustainable solutions in the food value chain, we need to find new technologies that are working on natural and biological control solutions. We are excited to work collaboratively with UPL to find and fund the best entrepreneurs worldwide who are solving these issues.”

A $1 million investment will be made in The Challenge winner and a $750,000 investment in the second-place winner in order to accelerate their growth. Apply now at https://radicle.vc/upl-npp/

Investment decisions will be made during a ‘Pitch Day’ in March 2024. A judging panel of industry experts will hear from 4-6 finalists who will be chosen from the global applicant pool. In addition to the funding, the winners will also get access to advice from both UPL and Radicle senior executives to help accelerate their company’s business and technical efforts.

The search is on for AgTech Start-ups

Agro chems – Pesticides, Company News, Finance, World

The funding will accelerate the development of Pluton’s flagship product

Pluton Biosciences, a startup leveraging the power of microbes to create cost-effective innovative solutions that address agriculture’s sustainability challenges, announces the close of a $16.5 M Series A funding round. The round was co-led by Illumina Ventures and RA Capital, with participation from existing investors Fall Line Capital, The Grantham Foundation, and First In Ventures, as well as new investors Wollemi, Radicle Growth (first investment from their second fund), and iSelect.

“The funding will accelerate the development of Pluton’s flagship product, the Microbial Cover Crop, through field trials and towards commercial partnerships,” remarked Elizabeth Gallegos, CEO of Pluton. “It will also enable us to expand our team, advance a microbial-derived pesticide to combat the fall armyworm, and harness the full potential of our Micromining platform to swiftly identify tailored solutions for agriculture.”

Illumina Ventures’ Charles Lin, PhD, who has joined Pluton’s Board of Directors, expressed his excitement about the fund’s first AgBio investment, “In the past two decades, we have witnessed how genomics revolutionised the landscape of human diagnostics and therapeutics. We expect genomics also to enable breakthroughs in agriculture. Pluton’s Micromining approach, combining genomics with rigorous data science, can unlock the potential of soil microbes for more sustainable agriculture and beyond.”

“Pluton’s technology will benefit farmers’ bottom lines as well as our environment,” said Michael Gillespie, RA Capital’s, MD, who has also joined Pluton’s Board of Directors. “Microbial Cover Crops will enrich the soil with nitrogen to increase crop yields while reducing fertiliser costs, improving profits and sustainability, limiting erosion, and boosting both soil quality and carbon sequestration. We are proud to support Pluton in their work to improve nature’s toolkit and revolutionise agriculture.”

Concurrent with this investment, agricultural industry veterans Jerry Steiner and Neal Gutterson, Ph.D. also joined Pluton’s Board of Directors. Steiner, Board Executive Chair, is enthusiastic about Pluton’s promise to utilise discoveries to make a positive impact on both agriculture and climate, “Pluton’s vision of using the vast potential of microbial genetic diversity to make agriculture carbon-negative is inspiring. Our Micromining platform enables the vision, with field-level proof for the Microbial Cover Crop product building over the next few years.  This product will complement many other innovations growers can use to improve their farms’ profitability while helping the planet.”

The funding will accelerate the development of