Agricultural biotechnology company AgBiome raise $34.5 million from investors for research and development into its first product, a fungicide for organic farmers.
AgBiome, based in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park, will submit an application to the Environmental Protection Agency within the next few weeks, but the company does not anticipate being ready to sell its first product, codenamed Howler within the company, until some point next year.
AgBiome currently employs 36 full-time and 14 part-time employees, but hopes to expand to include at least a dozen research and development employees in anticipation of the new product. The company also will create a sales team next year in conjunction with the regulatory approval of its first product, Andrew Graham, the company's chief financial officer, said.
AgBiome plans to move into a new facility that can accommodate up to 70 employees and contains a 5,000-square-foot greenhouse and 30,000 total square feet.
Most biological pesticides on the market today “just don’t work that well,” Dan Tomso, AgBiome's chief scientific officer, said. “Howler works as well as the flagship chemical solutions that are out there. This stuff really, really works.”
AgBiome is focused on identifying microbes in plants that can help produce more productive crops. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Syngenta Ventures are two investors in AgBiome.
More Stories
- CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE: CDFA Announces one Vacancy on the Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Committee
- AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: Support Ag Literacy Through the AFB Foundation for Agriculture’s Online Silent Auction
- AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: Farm Bureau: Members Accept Leadership Roles on National Committees
- CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE: CDFA Office of the Farm to Fork Invites Application for 2021 Farm to School Grants
- CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE: CDFA Awards Funding to Support Agricultural Education and Leadership Opportunities as part of the Calag Plate Program
- AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: AFBF Welcomes Nomination of Katherine Tai for U.S. Trade Representative
- CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE: CDFA Announces Vacancies on Feed Inspection Advisory Board Technical Advisory Subcomittee
- AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: AFBF Stands-Up for Farmers in Predatory Shakedown
- CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE: CFDA Issues Stop Use Notice and Statewide Quarantine on Organic Fertilizer AGRO Gold WS
- AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: Registration Open for American Farm Bureau Virtual Convention, Featuring Mike Rowe, Rorke Denver and Beth Ford