News Archives - Ospraie Ag Science

AgroSpheres Named on Both the World’s Top GreenTech Companies 2025 and America’s Top GreenTech Companies 2025 Lists by TIME Magazine

Ospraie Ag Science — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 20:31:29 +0000

AgroSpheres has been named on both the World’s Top GreenTech Companies 2025 and America’s Top GreenTech Companies 2025 lists. These prestigious awards are presented by TIME and Statista Inc., the leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. The award lists were announced on March 25th, 2025, and can be viewed on TIME’s website.

AgroSpheres Named on Both the World’s Top GreenTech Companies 2025 and America’s Top GreenTech Companies 2025 Lists by TIME Magazine

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, March 25, 2025 – AgroSpheres has been named on both the World’s Top GreenTech Companies 2025 and America’s Top GreenTech Companies 2025 lists. These prestigious awards are presented by TIME and Statista Inc., the leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. The award lists were announced on March 25th, 2025, and can be viewed on TIME’s website.

Statista ranked the winners based on three evaluation criteria:

· Positive environmental impact: The scoring is based on impact data such as the quality and impact of their product/service portfolio, as well as the expertise of their leadership team provided by HolonIQ

· Financial strength: The scoring is based on the analysis of financial data points e.g., revenue, employee or funding information

· Innovation drive: The scoring is based on the Patent Asset Index featured in LexisNexis® Intellectual Property Solutions

“Being recognized by TIME as one of the top GreenTech companies in both the U.S. and globally is a testament to the power of science-driven innovation in reshaping agriculture and our strong business fundamentals,” said Payam Pourtaheri, Co-Founder and CEO of AgroSpheres. “We have built a solid financial foundation to support the rapid commercialization of our bio-based solutions, ensuring long-term impact for growers and the environment. This recognition reinforces our mission to lead the way in the bio-based revolution.”

“Innovation drive and impact go hand in hand,” added Ameer Shakeel, AgroSpheres’ Co-Founder and CTO. “We have built an end-to-end technology platform, rooted in cutting-edge science, novel active ingredients and a strong intellectual property portfolio. Our advancements in encapsulation and delivery technologies are paving the way for greener, more effective crop protection solutions across the industry. As we scale our operations to commercialization, this honor from TIME highlights the growing momentum behind sustainable agriculture worldwide.”

In support of the research, Statista gathered data from company applications, annual reports, media monitoring, and other public sources. Additionally, Statista worked with specialized data partners HolonIQ and LexisNexis® Intellectual Property Solutions to further strengthen the data quality.

Statista publishes hundreds of worldwide industry rankings and company listings with high-profile media partners. This research and analysis service is based on the success of statista.com, the leading data and business intelligence portal that provides statistics, relevant business data, and various market and consumer studies and surveys.

About AgroSpheres

AgroSpheres envisions a future built by nature’s technologies. Based in Charlottesville, VA, the company’s mission is to revolutionize agriculture with reliable and affordable biobased solutions. AgroSpheres’ deep pipeline of biomolecules and patented AgriCell platform facilitate the development of biological pesticides with multi-year shelf lives and high field efficacy. The company’s platform makes it cost-effective to deploy novel biomolecules, plant extracts, and small molecules in the field at significantly reduced doses. For more information, visit www.agrospheres.com.

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CONTACT INFORMATION:

AgroSpheres

ValerieMartin

612-743-4013

val@valphadog.com

The post AgroSpheres Named on Both the World’s Top GreenTech Companies 2025 and America’s Top GreenTech Companies 2025 Lists by TIME Magazine appeared first on Ospraie Ag Science.

Plans announced for “GigaFarm”

Ospraie Ag Science — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:53:40 +0000

Plans to construct a state-of-the-art circular “GigaFarm” in Cobleskill, New York State, have been announced by Empire State Greenhouses (ESG) in partnership with Edinburgh-based vertical farming technology provider, Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS).

The 36,000m2 carbon-negative facility will produce three million kilos of fresh produce in 100 vertical farming Growth Towers every year, with an additional 700,000 kilos grown in the on-site greenhouses.

Taking a circular approach to crop production, the vertical farming Growth Towers, provided by IGS, will be integrated into a network of on-site facilities including renewable energy generation and Food-Energy-Waste (FEW) systems, eliminating a third of the cost of food deriving from energy.

When fully operational, the 100-tower GigaFarm farm will be capable of producing more than a billion plants each year. As many as 50 different crop types will be grown in the next-generation Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) facility, with the vertical farm ensuring that consumers receive high-quality, fresh produce with minimal food miles, year-round.

Andrew Lloyd, Chief Executive Officer of Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS), commented: “IGS is delighted to partner with ESG on this groundbreaking project. From the outset, both our organizations have shared a holistic vision of vertical farming—one that unites cutting-edge technology with robust, renewable energy systems.”

For more information:
Empire State Greenhouses
empirestategreenhouses.com/

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YC-backed Four Growers builds robots to help solve greenhouse labor shortages

Ospraie Ag Science — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 18:35:50 +0000

When Brandon Contino and co-founder Dan Chi were developing Four Growers’ produce-harvesting robots, they practically lived in a greenhouse for an entire year. They coded at a small desk tucked in the back corner and discovered that fertilizer bags can be comfortable beds.

“We actually started just running everything off a laptop, and I would be there in the row coding. [Chi] would be making changes mechanically,” Contino, now CEO, told TechCrunch. “We’d run it then we’d make code changes, we’d redevelop, we’d go back in and run it again. So, it was a very fun time just living at the farm basically.”

The result was Four Growers, which builds robots designed to autonomously harvest plants in greenhouses. The robots are programmed to identify produce at the right level of ripeness — which varies depending on a farmer’s needs — by using multiple stereo cameras to see the crops and help maneuver the robot’s arms around nonripe fruit on the vine. The tech currently works with tomatoes and will be commercially available to harvest other crops like cucumbers in the near future, Contino said.

Contino’s path to building agtech robotics wasn’t a fluid one. He entered college interested in neural prosthetics. He later pivoted to water sensors and water scarcity after realizing he didn’t want to end up with a career working on cyborgs, he said. Water scarcity led him to farms, but after talking to farmers, he realized robotics could help farmers in a bigger way.

“We were actually cold calling a bunch of different greenhouse farmers. We were really asking them about all their challenges, and we always heard that labor was the number one pain point for them,” Contino said. “And when you talk to outdoor farms, you hear the exact same thing.”

Having enough labor to harvest crops is crucial because if crops can’t be harvested when they are ready, they rot and result in lost profits for the farm. The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture’s 2024 labor report said the industry is facing a “critical shortage” of workers, and it won’t get better anytime soon.

Contino said they were intentional about focusing on greenhouse farms. Unlike outdoor farms, greenhouses can grow almost all year round, be closer to their end consumer, and are more efficient than outside farms, Contino said. They also harvest on a much more frequent schedule than outdoor farms, which makes them a good candidate to buy tech.

Four Growers was officially founded in 2018 and launched the current iteration of its robots in 2023. The company now works with five customers, and its robots have picked millions of tomatoes.

The Pittsburgh-based company just raised a $9 million Series A round led by Basset Capital with participation from Y Combinator, Ospraie Ag Science, and other existing investors. The company has raised a total of $15 million in venture funding. Contino said that the funding will be used to build more robots, as they aren’t sure they can keep up with demand.

The timing for this announcement comes just a few weeks after large, and well-capitalized, indoor farming startup Bowery Farms had to cease operations as a result of crop diseases and tight margins that didn’t leave much room for error.

Contino said that he wants all companies in this sector to succeed but added that vertical farms are particularly challenging and expensive. Contino said they looked into vertical farming before launching Four Growers and determined that the better market opportunity was to build tech for existing farms as opposed to trying to launch one on their own.

There are quite a few companies looking to help make farms more efficient through robotic harvesting, including Carbon Robotics, which has raised $143 million in venture capital. Blue River Technology and Bear Flag Robotics are both farm robotics companies that raised venture capital before being acquired by John Deere. Seso is an agtech startup that is tackling the industry’s labor shortage through a different lens: making it easier for farms to bring on migrant workers.

Contino said that the company is working to expand its technology beyond just harvesting and is looking to expand into outdoor farms in the coming years.

“It’s not really a labor replacement. It’s more of an augmentation,” Contino said. “As the labor force shrinks, and there’s less people willing to do it, it’s putting them to more comfortable positions and allowing one person to be able to do a lot more.”

By Rebecca Szkutak

Source: https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/20/yc-backed-four-growers-builds-robots-to-help-solve-greenhouse-labor-shortages/

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AgroSpheres engineers microbes to produce stable, biobased pesticides

Ospraie Ag Science — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 14:15:30 +0000

Encapsulating RNAi, proteins, and other biomolecules helps wean agriculture off synthetic chemicals

by Britt E. Erickson
November 8, 2024 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 102, Issue 35

Shiny gold letters hang on AgroSpheres’ lobby wall spelling out the start-up’s vision: a future built by nature’s technologies. At the opposite end of the facility sits a 1,300 m2 warehouse where the company plans to scale up a fermentation process to produce its first commercial product.

The product closest to commercialization is a biofungicide that will address diseases like botrytis and powdery mildew in fruits and vegetables, primarily in California and Oregon, says Ameer Shakeel, AgroSpheres’ cofounder and chief technology officer. The active ingredient is an oil extracted from thyme that is volatile and unstable at high temperatures. AgroSpheres uses its technology to encapsulate the oil, making it stabler and less prone to off-target effects.

The approach is an alternative to using microplastics or petrochemicals to stabilize pesticide molecules, Shakeel says. The US Environmental Protection Agency approved the biofungicide in September, and AgroSpheres plans to make it commercially available next year.

The company chose the biofungicide as its first product because it had the fastest path to regulatory approval, according to Shakeel. Thyme oil is a known fungicide—the only new part is the encapsulation technology, he says. “Our next registrations will be new tech and new molecules.”

Those new molecules include RNA interference (RNAi) and proteins. RNAi pesticides are relatively novel. The EPA has approved only a few, including a double-stranded RNA product from GreenLight Biosciences to control the Colorado potato beetle and a product from Bayer to combat the corn rootworm.

AgroSpheres is partnering with large pesticide companies, including BASF, Bayer, and FMC Corporation, to commercialize other RNAi-based products for controlling agricultural pests. One target is the fall armyworm, which damages corn and other crops and has caused infestations in Africa, South America, and, more recently, Shakeel’s home state of Virginia.

RNAi molecules silence a particular gene in the fall armyworm, thus causing it to die. But RNAi is unstable in the alkaline environment of the insect’s gut. AgroSpheres’ encapsulation technology stabilizes the RNAi molecules, buying them time to do their job.

Shakeel, along with AgroSpheres cofounder and CEO Payam Pourtaheri and a few other colleagues, developed the fermentation technology as undergraduate biomedical engineering students at the University of Virginia (UVA).

Shakeel grew up in Pakistan and says pesticide poisonings are common there. AgroSpheres originally created an enzyme-based product that could degrade organophosphate pesticides in fields. With help from their adviser, Mark Kester, a former UVA professor and entrepreneur who died in 2022, the students tested the platform at local vineyards.

The technology completely degraded organophosphates, Shakeel says. But when they tried to commercialize the product, they realized that farmers want alternatives to chemical pesticides, not cleanup solutions. So the start-up pivoted to making biobased pest controls.

Sustainability is important to AgroSpheres. The biggest input for its fermentation process is glycerine, a waste product from biodiesel and corn refineries, Shakeel says.

The firm claims that the process creates zero waste. Once on the plant, the encapsulated biomolecules break down in 2–3 weeks, leaving behind only proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates. “Everything produced is biodegradable,” Shakeel says.

What excites Shakeel the most about AgroSpheres is making a positive impact. He hopes agriculture is just the start for the company. “Then we can go to animal health and human health,” he says. “That’s the long-term vision.”

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AgroSpheres and BASF Announce Major Strategic Partnership

Ospraie Ag Science — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 14:10:22 +0000

Codevelop and Commercialize Category-Defining Broad-Spectrum Bioinsecticide

Charlottesville, VA and Limburgerhof, Germany — October 21, 2024 — AgroSpheres, a biotechnology leader in sustainable crop protection and crop health, and BASF, a global leader in agricultural solutions, are excited to announce their strategic partnership on a category defining novel bioinsecticide. This collaboration marks a significant step forward in sustainable agriculture solutions aimed at enhancing crop protection.

The companies are working together to develop biological crop protection products leveraging AgroSpheres AgriCell-powered biomolecules. Both companies are encouraged by the levels of efficacy that have been demonstrated at low dose rates to control key agricultural lepidopteran pests. Both companies are committed to working together to develop innovative and sustainable crop protection products that will increase the choices available to farmers to manage pests and support optimal productivity.

Payam Pourtaheri, CoFounder and CEO of AgroSpheres, stated, “Our partnership with BASF exemplifies the synergy that can be achieved when innovative biotech meets extensive agricultural expertise. The results of our bioinsecticide development are extremely promising, and we are eager to continue our work together to bring effective solutions to farmers worldwide.”

Ameer Shakeel, CoFounder and CTO of AgroSpheres, added, “This collaboration is a testament to our team’s ability to develop novel biomolecules, amplify them with the AgriCell and forge strategic partnerships to reach farmers around the world. We are proud to partner with BASF and are excited about the potential impact of our partnership.”

Both companies are committed to furthering their research and development efforts, with plans to accelerate the development of this product line and launch a pipeline powered by the AgriCell.

Stephanie Jensen, Vice President, Crop System Rice and Portfolio Solutions Insecticides and Seed Treatment, BASF Agricultural Solutions, concluded, “We are incredibly encouraged by the results we’ve achieved thus far and by the potential impact for our customers from this innovative technology. Moving forward, our focus remains on delivering a bioinsecticide that adds genuine value for farmers, promoting higher yields and healthier crops.”

Stefan Tresch, Head of New Technologies & BioSolutions at BASF Agricultural Solutions, remarked, “BASF is dedicated to developing innovative solutions that provide added benefit to our agricultural customers, and we believe in the unique value represented by the AgriCell platform. AgroSpheres has showcased some of the most promising biomolecules we’ve encountered. Our collaboration with AgroSpheres is a testament to the power of partnerships in driving innovation.”

Both AgroSpheres and BASF are dedicated to fostering a sustainable agricultural ecosystem, and this partnership is a crucial step in that journey.

AgroSpheres Media Contact:
Valerie Martin
Email: val@valphadog.com
Phone:612-743-4013
—

About AgroSpheres
AgroSpheres envisions a future built by nature’s technologies. Based in Charlottesville, VA, the company’s mission is to revolutionize agriculture with reliable and affordable biobased solutions. AgroSpheres’ deep pipeline of biomolecules and patented AgriCell platform facilitate the development of biological pesticides with multi-year shelf lives and high field efficacy. The company’s platform makes it cost-effective to deploy novel biomolecules, plant extracts, and small molecules in the field at significantly reduced doses. For more information, visit www.agrospheres.com.

About BASF
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Around 112,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio comprises six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care, and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €68.9 billion in 2023. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the United States. Further information at www.basf.com.

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AgroSpheres Secures $37M Series B Funding – Pushes for Growth

Ospraie Ag Science — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 15:07:42 +0000

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, September 30, 2024 – AgroSpheres Inc. (AGS), a biotechnology leader in sustainable crop protection and crop health, today announced the final close of a $37 million Series B funding round led by Zebra Impact Ventures, which invests through the Regenerative Growth I strategy, run in partnership with Mirabaud Asset Management. The round also saw strong participation from existing investors Lewis and Clark AgriFood, Ospraie Ag Science Ventures, FMC Ventures, BIDRA Ventures and Cavallo Ventures, underscoring continued confidence in the company’s trajectory in establishing itself as a premier crop health company.

This new capital will support AgroSpheres’ end-to-end product development, investment in just-in-time biomanufacturing facilities, expansion into new markets and drive further development of its revolutionary AgriCell platform, designed to enhance field performance and meet the rising global demand for sustainable agricultural solutions.

“We are thrilled to have Zebra Impact Ventures lead this funding round and grateful for the continued support of our existing investors,” said Payam Pourtaheri, Co-Founder and CEO of AgroSpheres. “Impact is at our core and Zebra’s perspective will be critical in realizing our vision of a ’future built by nature’s technologies.’ This investment will allow us to scale our operations, advance our R&D capabilities and bring our breakthrough technology to farmers around the world. Our mission is to redefine the future of agriculture with products that offer powerful performance and environmental sustainability.”

AgroSpheres’ patented AgriCell technology is a highly scalable and cost-effective platform for the manufacturing of encapsulated biomolecules. Key agronomic features of AgriCell technology include:

Stabilized biomolecules that deliver superior field performance across a broad range of environmental conditions.
Fully biodegradable products with no microplastics or petrochemicals.
Crop health products that safely degrade into organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphate that is restorative for plants and soil.

“AgroSpheres represents a new perspective that answers the call for sustainability in the way we farm and the way we build companies,” said Ameer Shakeel, Co-Founder and CTO of AgroSpheres. “We are deeply inspired by the work we are doing, the culture we are building and our partnering with Zebra around a shared, impact-driven vision. Building our manufacturing facilities, launching our products and forging strategic alliances are on the horizon.”

Lionel Artusio-Payot, Managing Partner of Zebra Impact Ventures, expressed enthusiasm about AgroSpheres’ potential to revolutionize the crop protection industry. “After spending time with the AGS team at their US base and completing our due diligence process, the founders’ talents and drive were clear to us. We believe their breakthrough technology provides the missing link in delivering reliable field performance and opening up new markets for high-performance biopesticides. We see it as one of the most important innovations in crop protection products in the last four decades.”

“We believe AGS represents a true game-changer for the entire biological industry, thanks to both its potential environmental impact and its strong potential to break new ground in terms of exit/valuation in the coming years, with multiple exit opportunities such as private equity deals, IPO and M&A,” said Pierre Jouve, Investment Manager of Zebra Impact Ventures. “We look forward to supporting AGS with impact and regulatory guidance as well as developing its presence in the EU market.”

With this significant Series B investment, AgroSpheres is well-positioned to push for growth as it launches products and expands partnerships with major industry players.

About AgroSpheres
AgroSpheres envisions a future built by nature’s technologies. Based in Charlottesville, VA, the company’s mission is to revolutionize agriculture with reliable and affordable biobased solutions. AgroSpheres’ deep pipeline of biomolecules and patented AgriCell platform facilitate the development of biological pesticides with multi-year shelf lives and high field efficacy. The company’s platform makes it cost-effective to deploy novel biomolecules, plant extracts, and small molecules in the field at significantly reduced doses. For more information, visit www.agrospheres.com.

Investing in partnership with Zebra Impact Ventures
Zebra Impact Ventures has formed a unique strategic partnership with Mirabaud Asset Management, the asset management arm of the Swiss family bank. Together, they have the expertise to deliver meaningful change and powerful impact performance. Regenerative Growth I, an SFDR Article 9 strategy, invests in growth stage tech-companies addressing the transformation of global food systems.
Discover Regenerative Growth I

AgroSpheres Media Contact:
Valerie Martin
Email: val@valphadog.com
Phone:+1 612-743-4013

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Plant Health Care Shares Jump After Company Agrees to GBP33 Mln Indian Takeover

Ospraie Ag Science — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 20:49:10 +0000

By Cristina Gallardo

Plant Health Care shares rose 48% after the London-listed company said that it has agreed to a 32.8 million pounds ($41.6 million) takeover by India’s PI Industries.

Shares at 1305 GMT were up 2.78 pence at 8.50 pence. They are currently up 130% over the year to date.

Under the agreement, accepting shareholders of the provider of patented vaccines for plants will get 9 pence for each share held, the companies said Wednesday. The price is a 57% premium to the company’s closing price of 5.72 pence on Tuesday.

The acquisition will be funded with existing cash, PI said, adding that the move will allow it to offer a balanced portfolio of chemical and biological products to farmers and retailers, and to expand its presence in countries such as the U.S. and Brazil–two of Plant Health Care’s main markets.

“Acquisition of Plant Health Care is a strategic move to expand our portfolio in the agri-tech sector,” said PI Joint Managing Director Rajnish Sarna.

“We believe synergies between our organizations will unlock substantial value and accelerate growth. Together, we will drive significant advancements in sustainable agriculture.”

Write to Cristina Gallardo at cristina.gallardo@wsj.com

Source: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/plant-health-care-shares-jump-after-company-agrees-to-gbp33-mln-indian-takeover-5730945d

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Enhanced Predictability through Integrated Autonomous Growing Solutions

Ospraie Ag Science — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 07:32:37 +0000

The horticulture industry continuously seeks innovative solutions to enhance crop yield, quality, and predictability. In January 2024, Koidra, a leader in intelligent automation, and Delphy, a global consultancy and research expert in greenhouse agriculture, explored the combination of their hierarchical and autonomous decision-making models to improve the management of high-tech cucumber cultivation under LED lights. The trial utilized Delphy’s Quality Management System (QMS) to set daily targets (such as DLI and 24hr-temperature) and Priva’s Connext for actuator adjustments. The latter half of the trial integrated Koidra’s KoPilot technology to automate environmental control decisions every five minutes, thus creating a seamlessly integrated, autonomous system.

According to Linda Nooren, researcher at Delphy Improvement Centre, “The collaboration between Delphy, Priva’s Connext, and Koidra enabled full-automated control of the greenhouse climate, light, and irrigation. We had valuable discussions about the climate, usage, and differences with practice between crop advisors, growers, suppliers, and Koidra.”

Unfortunately, the crop had a difficult start due to late planting. However, following the integration of Koidra’s autonomous growing controls, the crop developed positively, resulting in consistent weekly production, good fruit filling, and excellent average weight from that period onwards. The cucumber production in the period of Koidra’s autonomous growing is almost equivalent to the predictions based on Delphy’s QMS.

Methodology

The trial was structured around a three-tier decision-making model:

Delphy’sQuality Management System (QMS) – Provided weekly recommendations for daily targets, focusing on long-term growth strategies.
Koidra’sKoPilot – Adjusted environmental control setpoints in real-time (every 5 minutes) to optimize conditions based on QMS recommendations and ongoing environmental feedback.
Priva’s Connext – Executed the actuator adjustments determined by KoPilot.

Overall Results

The integration of these systems demonstrated robust performance and reliability, ensuring seamless communication between the software layers. The system proactively managed environmental conditions to eliminate water condensation on leaves, thus preventing diseases such as mildew, a common challenge in cucumber cultivation.

The success of this trial underscores the importance of integrated decision-making systems in greenhouse agriculture. By optimizing real-time adjustments to the growing environment, Koidra’s KoPilot effectively utilized the strategic insights from Delphy’s QMS and the control capabilities from Priva’s Connext to drive superior crop production and predictability.

Linda Nooren highlighted, “Together we explored and built effective feedback systems to improve the control performance.”

Implications for Future Agricultural Practices

Increasing crop production and prediction capabilities is key to maximizing the value of greenhouse production, especially given the rising variability in external climate conditions negatively impacting crop growth. The results suggest that similar integrative approaches could be effectively applied to other crops and growing conditions, paving the way for more widespread adoption of intelligent automation in agriculture.

Conclusion

This trial marks a significant achievement in the field of greenhouse horticulture, showcasing the benefits of hierarchical decision-making models. The collaboration between Koidra, Delphy, and Priva not only led to good crop performance but also highlighted the importance of synergy between high-level decision-making tools and precise operational control systems. As we continue to refine these technologies, the potential for optimizing agricultural productivity and sustainability becomes increasingly attainable.

About Koidra Inc.

Koidra Inc. is an autonomous control company whose software aids growers in boosting yields, reducing resources, and promoting sustainable agriculture. Supporting the AI copilot technology, this software seamlessly integrates with all existing climate computers.

Koidra achieved consecutive wins in the prestigious Autonomous Greenhouse Challenges (AGC) by Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands. Outperforming experienced cultivators, the company achieved unparalleled yields through its AI solutions.

Koidra has secured grants from esteemed bodies, including the USDA, for its innovative work. By integrating artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, and expert insight, the company has developed advanced and robust tools. These tools empower growers and manufacturers to realize production and sustainability goals while minimizing costs.

About Delphy

Delphy focuses on research, projects, data-driven crop management, consultancy, and training in the agricultural sector on a global level. By conducting practice-oriented research, initiating global projects, offering high-quality advice to growers, and providing training for beginning and advanced crop managers, Delphy stimulates innovation in agri- and horticulture.

Delphy’s Quality Management System (QMS) combines data, growth models, and smart algorithms for the optimization of cultivation strategies for crops like tomato, cucumber, strawberry, tree and fruit cultivation, but also for chrysanthemum or phalaenopsis.

Delphy’s Improvement Centre develops innovation within sustainable cultivation systems for Greenhouse Horticulture and Indoor Farming. It is done through research, demonstration, and knowledge implementation with a team of researchers and consultants. The high-tech greenhouse and indoor facilities are an important element in connecting research, innovation, and application in practice.

Source: https://www.koidra.ai/news/enhanced-predictability-through-integrated-autonomous-growing-solutions/

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RTP crop protection firm extends funding round to $15 million

Ospraie Ag Science — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 07:30:23 +0000

RTP crop protection firm extends funding round to $15 million

RTP firm 5Metis raises $5.5 million in Series A extension.

By Zac Ezzone – Staff writer, Triangle Business Journal

Apr 30, 2024

A small company developing new crop protection products in Research Triangle Park has added a few million dollars to a funding round.

THIS ARTICLE IS FOR PREMIUM MEMBERS

Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2024/04/30/5metis-crop-protection-extends-funding-round.html

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Meet the Founders: AgroSpheres co-founders share lessons in ag biotech and the value of a long-term perspective

Ospraie Ag Science — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 07:27:29 +0000

Jennifer Marston

Biomedical engineering or crop biologicals? That was the question Payam Pourtaheri and Ameer Shakeel faced upon graduating from the University of Virginia [UVA] seven years ago.

The two went on to start AgroSpheres, which offers a novel delivery system for more targeted pesticide use, but in many ways, having a non-traditional (i.e., non-agricultural) background has worked to their advantage, says CEO Pourtaheri.

Having raised a $25 million Series B at the end of last year, the AgroSpheres team is now building a pilot facility in Charlottesville, Virginia and working towards regulatory approvals with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as a new pipeline of products.

The company aims to have its first product approved and in market by the end of 2024.

Below, Pourtaheri and Shakeel discuss their startup journey from student research project to internationally recognized startup.

AgFunderNews (AFN): What led you to start Agrospheres?

Payam Pourtaheri (PP): At UVA I started learning about biomedical engineering and medicine. That’s when I met Ameer, through our professor Mark Kester. [He] passed away about a year and a half ago, but he was a really entrepreneurial professor at the University of Virginia in the pharmacology lab. We met him there and started working on our project, and that’s what became AgroSpheres.

Ameer Shakeel (AS): The research project was widely motivated by some of the exposure we had that pesticides can be quite bad, especially in parts of the world where you don’t have the right PPE [personal protective equipment].

We developed a spray to degrade pesticides. That was the genesis of our platform technology — that you can spray a trait or a biomolecule of interest. Around the time we were graduating, [we faced] a decision between going to med school or going into consulting or other stuff people from engineering do, or trying to make a real impact.

PP: We brought in about $120,000 in grants through student competitions. We did our school one, our state one, we won the invention of the year 2016 from the USPTO and started getting a lot of traction on our pesticide degradation spray.

But the farmer and the industry feedback was, “We don’t want a pesticide remediation spray, we want to spray fewer chemicals. What can you guys do?”

So we started thinking about our pivot. We went to Europe, where we were in a competition called Thought for Food. We actually won two awards.

So that was a great moment where we went globally and saw the various issues facing various different countries in food production. Doing that was inspiring and then during that time, Ameer went and raised our seed round and got a really good advisor from Novozymes to join the team.

AS: My last year it was getting harder to balance classwork with doing AgroSpheres, and it’s very obvious which I cared about more.

During my last year we were camping out at local vineyards, doing our experiments, spraying our pesticide degradation technology. And what we were finding was that there was a lot more pesticide than we thought there would be given our experiment, and it suggested to us that they had been building up for years, so we were degrading a lot more pesticide than we actually input. That was very inspiring for us to see that you can build a technology powerful enough to actually eliminate pesticides.

The day of my graduation, I hopped on a plane and went to Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Turkey. In Turkey, there were individuals who ran an enzyme company, which was great for us to get early exposure to the manufacturing fermentation side of it. And I think with a couple weeks of runway left, we ended up raising the [seed] round. And that was how we started things off.

AFN: Tell us about AgroSpheres’ technology.

AS: When we were entering the field, everyone was betting on whole microorganisms.

The bet we made was, you have this whole microbe, maybe 1% to 3% of what it makes is the actual product or what does the heavy lifting. Our bet was we need a system to isolate that trait, manufacture it effectively, and deliver it in a very stable manner. And that’s exactly what our technology lends itself to.

It’s a fermentation technology where you can put the trait in a microorganism and the microorganism produces this trait, which may be a protein, an RNA or a metabolite — anything that can be biologically produced. It produces it in a very stable format — it’s encapsulated. Basically, it has a shell around it, and that’s what we recover at the end of the fermentation.

The advantages of that is, on the manufacturing side, it allows you that continuous fermentation process. Downstream, it really simplifies things. Sometimes downstream can be as much as 16 steps of recovery, especially for something as sensitive as RNA. For us it’s always two steps, maybe three at max, and has a high throughput.

So while [others] were trying to figure out how to keep these CFUs [colony forming units] alive for two years and get them to colonize, we were focused on that single or double trait of how do we keep this protein stable from the tank to the plant. That’s how our technology is different and our epistemology and way of thinking.

AFN: What were the biggest challenges you faced at the start? What have you learned from them?

PP: I think [others having] belief in us — a young team coming out of non-traditional agriculture school with limited exposure [meeting] the top execs of various organizations who’d been doing this for decades.

One of the things we did was find really good advisors. And all the data we generated was third-party generated, so we didn’t generate any of our own efficacy data. We would make it, blind it and then send it to a reputable university or CRO [contract research organization] to give us our testing.

AS: More generally, just being very patient and persistent is a big one while waiting for a company to respond or for them to finish their testing or for an investor to finish their due diligence. Within that, finding productivity as opposed to getting worried or anxious, I think those were some early things we learned and trying to make the most of the time we had.

AFN: Would you do anything differently?

PP: We made a lot of mistakes along the way. I think our latest fundraise could have been a lot cleaner; I think we could have done a better job on that front. But I think we learned so much through that process and we ended up where we are through some of the mistakes we made.

AS: Initially, where we started was the perspective of building bridges from the developed world to the developing world. North America is great for us to make money but there’s also the impact of whatever [the technology] enables for poor farmers in other places in the world.

I think maintaining that perspective throughout is one of the things I would have advised, because sometimes you can lose perspective when you get into the weeds. We’ve learned over the years and now we have that perspective.

AFN: Did your ‘non-traditional’ background help you?

PP: I think we first thought we were at a disadvantage, but I think it really has turned out to be an advantage.

None of us had PhDs, and we were right out of biomedical engineering and did not know how the agriculture space worked. But through our learnings and readings, the stability in the fields and costs of biologicals were the two major issues for any biological material, especially in agriculture.

Feedback was, go down to RTP [Research Triangle Park], North Carolina, find a microbe, characterize it and then try to take that to market.

There are experiences we lacked and we went and found really good experienced advisors to help us along the way, but I think it was a good balance of fresh perspective as well as pointing us in the right direction where our technology may have the most merit.

AFN: Any advice for other startups in the industry?

AS: It’s important to maintain long-term perspective — that’s the nature of the field we’re in. Because of that, it’s important to find like-minded advisors and investors. Try to find people who can think beyond, “Can we flip this for 3x to 5x multiples?”

One thing I learned early is that competition among startups is a zero sum game. We try to be very helpful to other startups and make sure we can help them thrive and enable their technology. The real competition is between the products startups are making and the products at the farm gate from big companies.

PP: Make sure you find a great cofounder. It’s been a lot of tough times and great to have someone to lean on throughout this process. Your team is incredibly important.

Also long-term vision. We have this pitch deck from 2016. It’s not a good deck but highlights where we want to go with the technology. It’s evolved and gotten better, but nothing has really changed [in terms of] our end goal. This is the path we’ve been on since COVID hit, markets changed and carbon came into the picture. We never shifted in a different direction.

AS: And we’ve had a lot of fun doing it along the way. We still do.

Source: https://agfundernews.com/

The post Meet the Founders: AgroSpheres co-founders share lessons in ag biotech and the value of a long-term perspective appeared first on Ospraie Ag Science.