has received a growth equity investment led by
Cascadia Capital, an investment bank serving middle market clients globally, today announced it acted as the exclusive financial advisor to AgBiome, a leader in developing innovative products from the Earth’s microbial communities, in raising $116 million in an oversubscribed Series D funding, co-led by Blue Horizon and Novalis Life Sciences and that included multiple new and existing investors. The company will use the capital to expand more rapidly its product portfolio, scale its scientific and commercial teams, and continue to build its global presence and partnerships.
The growing global population, increased demand for clean, healthy food, and demand for reduced chemical agricultural applications have created a need for sustainable and environmentally compatible crop production. AgBiome’s mission is to develop and deliver naturally derived crop protection products that meet the growers need and consumer desire for sustainable, global food production.
AgBiome has a strong product pipeline to serve the growing global demand for biological alternatives. Its first product, Howler® fungicide, is a revolutionary biological that harnesses the power of the plant microbiome and works on more than 300 crop-disease combinations. It offers multiple modes of action to provide preventive, long-lasting activity on a broad spectrum of soilborne and foliar diseases and demonstrated 10x growth in 2020.
The company expects to launch its second product, Theia™ fungicide in early 2022, and recently submitted its third product, Esendo™ for EPA registration. Starting with biological fungicides and expanding to insecticides and herbicides, the company will have launched 11 products by 2025.
“Biologicals are a rapidly growing, disruptive market segment that is projected to grow 14-fold by 2030,” said Scott Uknes, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of AgBiome. “Growers need new tools to control problematic diseases while ensuring effective resistance management. AgBiome is laser focused on developing those science-based solutions. With this capital, AgBiome is well positioned to execute on its strategic business model focused on developing proprietary products, fostering partner programs, joint ventures, and new company formations, all of which represent significant growth opportunities for AgBiome.”
With nearly 100 full-time employees, AgBiome’s team continues to scale. Earlier this year, the company announced that senior leaders in agriculture and biotech, Krysta Harden and Alison Lawton, joined its Board of Directors. Dr. Marijn Dekkers was also named as AgBiome’s chairman of the Board. In the second quarter of 2021, AgBiome appointed four new leaders to its commercial team.
“AgBiome Co-Founders, Scott Uknes and Eric Ward are pioneers in one of the fastest growing categories of agriculture,” said Scott Porter, Cascadia Managing Director and head of Agribusiness. “I believe the technology they have built and continue to expand upon will change the world’s food supply chain for generations to come. It was an honor to work with such a stellar team, exceptional investor group, and leading Board of Directors around the table. The opportunity to be a part of what AgBiome is building is beyond exciting.”
Select additional incumbent and new investors also participating in the round included Fidelity, UTIMCO, The Mosaic Company, Leaps by Bayer, Polaris Partners, Arch Ventures, Pontifax AgTech, and more.
Cascadia has become a leading investment bank for companies in the AgTech sector. Select past AgTech transactions include the acquisition of Conservis Corporation by TELUS Agriculture and Rabobank, the acquisition of Cytozyme Laboratories by Verdesian Life Sciences, and DN2K’s acquisition by John Deere.
For more information about this transaction, please contact:
Scott Porter
Managing Director
sporter@cascadiacapital.com
(206) 436-2528
Or other senior members of the Cascadia Food, Beverage & Agribusiness practice:
Michael Butler
Chairman & CEO
mbutler@cascadiacapital.com
(206) 436-2530
Erik Einwalter
Managing Director
eeinwalter@cascadiacapital.com
(206) 436-2538
Bryan Jaffe
Managing Director
bjaffe@cascadiacapital.com
(206) 436-2534
George Sent
Managing Director
gsent@cascadiacapital.com
(206) 436-2511