INNOVATIVE STARTUPS: AGRICULTURAL STARTUP BVT BETS ON BEES TO PROTECT CROPS
On a perfect sunny afternoon in late May at Organics Family Farm in Markham, Ont., David Passafiume is carefully dotting his newly planted strawberry field with eight man-made bumblebee hives. The hives are constructed out of lightweight corrugated plastic, and inside each hive is a colony of bees that, over the next few weeks, will work non-stop to help protect his crop from a grey mould called botrytis while at the same time keeping his strawberries certified organic. (In order to remain certified, the farm can’t use chemical fungicides.) Just a few botrytis spores are enough to wipe out an entire field of strawberries if left untreated.tors to the agtech ecosystem. READ MORE
INNOVATIVE STARTUPS: THIS VERTICAL FARM WANTS TO BE AN AGRICULTURE COMPANY, NOT A TECH COMPANY
As the indoor farming industry has taken off in the last several years–over the next 10 years, indoor farming is expected to account for 50% of leafy green production, and grow to a $42 billion industry–it’s become apparent that it’s as much about technology as it is about agriculture. Bowery, a new startup operating out of an old warehouse building in Kearney, New Jersey, developed a sensor-based proprietary technology, called BoweryOS, specifically to support the venture by determining necessary nutrient levels, as well as when crops are ready for harvesting. And in South San Francisco, Plenty is growing produce via a tech-supported vertical farming model that has already received $26 million from tech investors like Bezos Expeditions and Innovation Endeavors. For FreshBox Farms, an indoor farm operational since 2015 at an old factory site in Millis, Massachusetts, around 30 miles outside of Boston, the technology is important–it is, after all, what enables the greens to grow–but it’s not sacred. READ MORE
INNOVATIVE STARTUPS: 18 JAW-DROPPING IDEAS PICKED FOR 2017 AG INNOVATION SHOWCASE
Eighteen early stage companies will get the opportunity to show off their innovative work and blow the ag industry away at the 9th annual Ag Innovation Showcase, September 11-13, 2017 at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, in St. Louis, Missouri. “Each year, we seek to showcase innovations and innovators, foster conversations, and point to trends affecting agriculture and food. We have plotted the evolution of the Showcase from its earliest days pointing to precision agriculture, biologicals, and the development of data as a driving force. And we’ve sought to highlight and encourage the growth of diversity in our community. This is innovation at ground zero,” said Rohit Shukla, founder and chief executive officer, Larta Institute. READ MORE
INNOVATIVE STARTUPS: THE 25 MOST INNOVATIVE AG-TECH STARTUPS
From irrigation hardware engineered to beat the drought to biotechnology startups cultivating future cash crops, Forbes has identified the 25 most innovative pieces of burgeoning technology in this space. Together, they have more than $400 million in financing. Those investments come from the likes of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Kholsa Ventures, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Monsanto Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, as well as in-house venture capital arms like Campbell Soup’s Acre Ventures. Even President Barack Obama’s former White House chef is getting in the game. To find the 25 ag-tech startups that carry the most potential, we surveyed the agricultural technology landscape by speaking with experts, venture capitalists and accelerators; then, we examined financials and each company’s agricultural credentials. READ MORE
PLANTS & TRAITS: EIGHT PARTNERS WILL POOL RESOURCES TO BOLSTER CROP BREEDING TOOLBOX
The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), a nonprofit organization established through bipartisan congressional support in the 2014 Farm Bill, today joined with Bayer, Biogemma, KWS, FAPESP, Precision PlantSciences, Rijk Zwaan and CIMMYT to launch the Crops of the Future Collaborative, a new consortium that will accelerate crop breeding to meet global food demand 20-50 years in the future. FFAR’s initial $10 million commitment is expected to leverage significant additional investment from partners.With the world population projected to reach 9.8 billion people by 2050, the Crops of the Future Collaborative will accelerate crop breeding through an innovative public-private model that pools proprietary knowledge, financial resources, and technology to carry out crop-specific research initially focusing on maize, leafy greens and wheat and small grains. The consortium will hone in on how a crop’s genetic information can yield traits needed to meet global nutritional demands in a changing environment. Participants will see their investments multiplied by a “one-to-many” matching model. READ MORE
PLANTS & TRAITS: AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY COMPANY PHYTELLIGENCE RAISES $7 MILLION
Agricultural technology company Phytelligence has raised $6.95 million to grow its business. The company plans to invest the money to expand propagation capacity, according to a news release, including taking on more greenhouse space. “We’re also spending a tremendous amount of time and money to constantly improve the process — looking at robotics, looking at the ability to do grafting in a tissue culture lab with a younger plant to speed the process,” CEO Ken Hunt said in the release. READ MORE
PLANTS & TRAITS: AG BIOTECH COMPANY NEWLEAF SYMBIOTICS ANNOUNCES $24MM C ROUND FINANCING NEWLEAF SYMBIOTICS
NewLeaf Symbiotics announced today the close of a $24MM series C financing round, accelerating plans to convert proven applications of its biotechnology into products for large-scale agriculture. The company’s commitment to tapping the advantages of Methylotrophic bacteria has positioned it as a leader in agricultural biologicals. Monsanto Growth Ventures (MGV) and Otter Capital jointly led the round. Lewis & Clark Ventures participated in the financing, as did Rockport Capital, Pangaea Ventures, Open Prairie Ventures, and other investors. NewLeaf will use the invested capital to commercialize seed treatment and in-furrow products for soybeans, corn, wheat, peanuts, and other crops. The company is tripling the size of its R&D and pilot production facility in St. Louis and is expanding its proprietary Prescriptive Biologics Knowledgebase™ bioinformatics platform. READ MORE
PLANTS & TRAITS: ASTA TESTIFIES BEFORE HOUSE AG COMMITTEE ON PLANT BREEDING INNOVATION, FARM BILL
American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) President and CEO Andy LaVigne testified today at a U.S. House Agriculture Committee hearing on the farm bill and innovation in specialty crops. LaVigne stressed the importance of promoting a climate of innovation through the funding of farm bill research programs and the enactment of clear and consistent, science-based policies across the government. READ MORE
PLANTS & TRAITS: SEED COMPANY SECURES CRISPR RIGHTS
DuPont Pioneer announced it has secured exclusive rights to CRISPR-cas technology for all agricultural uses and applications in plants. CRISPR is one of the newest ways to edit biological genomes. DuPont Pioneer Vice-President Neal Gutterson says, “We see CRISPR-Cas technology as an advancement in plant breeding which can enable a new era in crop improvement. This licensing agreement with ERS is a piece of DuPont Pioneer’s strategy to position our business as a leader in the application of CRISPR-Cas in agriculture.” The licensing agreement is with ERS Genomics and already DuPont has 60 patents or patent applications for CRISPR bacteria identification and immunization, as well as gene editing technology. READ MORE
PLANTS & TRAITS: AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY COMPANY CALYXT
FILES FOR IPO
Calyxt Inc., a New Brighton-based gene-editing agricultural company with roots at the University of Minnesota, has filed for an initial public offering that could raise $50 million. Calyxt aims to make genetically modified crops for consumers and farmers using technology developed at a French gene-editing company, Cellectis SA, and the U. The company’s TALEN technology uses “molecular scissors” to create desirable traits and does not add foreign DNA during the process, Calyxt said in its filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. READ MORE
PLANTS & TRAITS: HIGH METHIONINE SOYBEAN DEVELOPED BY PLANT SENSORY SYSTEMS AND SCHILLINGER GENETICS
Plant Sensory Systems, LLC and Schillinger Genetics, Inc. have entered into a collaboration to move towards commercialization a new high methionine soybean variety for animal feed. Under the agreement, Plant Sensory Systems receives an exclusive commercial license to Schillinger Genetics’ NAVITA soybean variety that contains the Enhanced-Nutrition (EN) technology developed by Plant Sensory Systems. The EN technology increases several essential amino acids in seeds, including methionine. Conventional soybeans are deficient in methionine. To meet dietary requirements, methionine is added to nearly all soy-based feed. Chemically synthesized methionine (or its analog) is the most common form of the supplemental amino acid in feed. READ MORE |