Participated · Series C · Aug 2022

Vive Crop Protection is a Toronto-based company focused on evolving crop inputs through its precision chemistry™ platform. It leverages patented Allosperse® Delivery Technology to optimize conventional and biological crop inputs for improved product performance from the jug to the field. The company is led by CEO Darren Anderson. In May 2024 Vive secured a Series C extension funding round for an undisclosed amount. Backers were not disclosed. The company says the extension will enable it to further advance its technologies and drive demand into new markets. Vive Crop Protection leverages proprietary Allosperse technology, a nanoscale, polymer-based delivery system designed to improve the targeting and performance of both synthetic and biological active ingredients. The technology is intended to enhance farmers' ROI and sustainability profiles by improving product efficacy. Over the last 18 months the company has experienced rapid growth, evidenced by new product registrations and increases in customer base and employment. Revenue has more than doubled in that period from sales of its seven EPA-registered products. The company plans to use new capital to accelerate commercial deployment of its product portfolio into new North American markets and to advance its research and development pipeline. Led by CEO Darren Anderson, Vive has also complemented its equity raise with debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank. Vive develops the Allosperse delivery system, which uses nanotechnology to wrap chemical and biological crop inputs in small polymer particles that control how active ingredients interact with their environment. By encapsulating actives, Vive enables co-mixing and co-application with fertilizers and other inputs, improving on-farm efficiency and reducing labor time. Its products are being used on 1.2 million acres in the U.S., and the company reports 2x year-on-year growth over the last four years. Vive has focused on developing a line of branded products while attracting growing interest from established ag-input players seeking differentiated, value-added applications for older chemistries. The company plans to use new funding to expand its U.S. sales team, establish distribution channels across the continental United States, and invest in research and development. Vive aims to combine chemical reliability with the benefits of biological inputs and has deliberately avoided taking strategic investors to retain control over commercialization. Vive Crop Protection is a Toronto, ON, Canada–based company that makes products to protect crops from pests. Its core technology is the patented Allosperse delivery system, which delivers active ingredients in ultra-small particles that coat leaves and improve plant penetration. The company reported receiving an additional investment to support its growth. The amount of the funding and the backers were not disclosed in the article. Vive is led by CEO Keith Thomas. The company said it intends to use the funds to accelerate its growth.

Participated · Series A · Sep 2021

Burro builds autonomous field robots used in agriculture to transport payloads and tow equipment. Its product line includes the People-scale Burro (carries 500 lbs, tows up to 2,000 lbs) and the new Pallet-scale Burro Grande (carries 1,500 lbs, tows up to 5,000 lbs) with 3D LIDAR and a Lidar-based SLAM algorithm for GPS-denied navigation. The company reports about 300 systems operating in fields and nurseries—primarily in the U.S., with select clients in Australia and New Zealand—and more than 300,000 hours in the field and roughly 75,000 miles covered autonomously. Burro intends to use its latest funding to scale operations by increasing production and shipping cadence and to expand product and engineering teams. Management also plans to grow sales, go-to-market, and customer success functions, with an emphasis on growing revenue faster than costs and maintaining continuous production/shipping. Founded in 2017 and based in Philadelphia, the Burro Grande is available to order and is set to start shipping later this quarter. Burro, formerly Augean Robotics and based in Philadelphia, PA, builds plug-and-play autonomous people-scale robots for the agriculture industry. Led by CEO Charlie Andersen, the company’s robots use a patent-pending Pop Up Autonomy™ approach with computer vision and AI to learn on the go and navigate autonomously without centralized control or heavy infrastructure. Burros are designed to work out of the box so everyone in a working environment can become an operator and can carry various payloads. Today the company operates 90 robots in table grape fields, covering 100–300 miles a day autonomously, six days a week. Burro intends to use new funding to increase headcount, expand product capabilities, and extend its mobility autonomy into nursery and berry markets. The company raised $10.9M in a Series A to support these plans.