Led · Equity · Mar 2024

SOLASTA Bio develops next‑generation green insecticides using nature‑inspired, selectively targeted and sustainable peptide insect control products. The company was selected as the winner of the Radicle Natural Plant Protection (NPP) Challenge by UPL, securing a $1M investment. The award includes access to UPL Corp and Radicle Growth’s industry expertise and global networks to support development and scale. SOLASTA’s CEO said the funding will accelerate the company’s sustainable insect control solutions toward the global market in a new phase for the company. The selection was made from 237 start‑ups and announced at a Pitch Day Event on 18 March 2024.

Led · Equity · Mar 2024

Solasta Bio develops peptide-based, nature-inspired bioinsecticides designed to selectively target insect pests while protecting beneficial pollinators such as bees. Its technology platform can be mobilized for any pest across crop and non-crop applications, including stored grain. The company’s agents demonstrated efficacy on par with or better than commercial standards across more than 20 field trials in Europe, the UK and the US during the 2023 trials season. Co-founded by CEO Shireen Davies and CSO Prof. Julian Dow, Solasta is based in Glasgow, Scotland. The company recently closed a $14M Series A, bringing total capital raised to $19M, and intends to use the funds to accelerate development of its peptide-based bioinsecticides. Forbion’s involvement will also add a board seat as part of the round. SOLASTA Bio develops next‑generation green insecticides based on nature‑inspired peptides that target pests selectively. The company's core products are sustainable peptide insect control solutions intended to replace or augment conventional chemical insecticides. SOLASTA was announced as the winner of the Radicle Natural Plant Protection (NPP) Challenge by UPL, which the company says will help accelerate its solutions toward the global market. As part of the prize, SOLASTA will gain industry support and access to UPL Corp and Radicle Growth's networks and expertise to help commercial development. The company was selected from a pool of 237 start‑up applicants, highlighting external validation of its technology. No revenue, user, or founding‑year metrics were disclosed in the announcement. Solasta Bio has developed a technology platform for creating neuropeptide-based insect control products that are nature-inspired rather than selected from a synthetic chemistry library. Its products target insect pests while preserving beneficial pollinators such as bees, and the platform can be mobilised for any pest of interest. The company plans to use the funds to scale up UK and US operations, expand its technical and commercial teams (creating 25 jobs), accelerate development of its technology platform and target new markets. Solasta is led by CEO Shireen Davies, PhD, with CSO Professor Julian Dow and former BASF executive Dr Paul Bernasconi among the team; other executives include Chair Dr Rob Wylie, CFO David Armour and CCO Dr Daphne Preuss. The company currently employs a team of 25 R&D, commercial staff and consultants. The fundraising round brings the company's total funding to £5.5M. Solasta Bio develops biopesticides using a technology platform that creates neuropeptide-based insect control products inspired by nature rather than synthetic-chemistry libraries. Its products are designed to target insect pests while preserving beneficial pollinators such as bees. The company was established in May 2020 following four years of research funded by UKRI BBSRC and the EC, with commercialisation support from Scottish Enterprise’s High Growth Spinout Programme. Management includes co-founders Professor Shireen Davies (CEO), Professor Julian Dow (CSO), Paul Bernasconi (CTO) and Professor Robert Liskamp, supported by a Glasgow-based R&D team. Financially, Solasta secured £1.3m in seed funding and had earlier pre-seed backing from UKI2S and Scottish Enterprise. The company plans to move trials out of the laboratory into real-world settings and aims to bring its first biopesticides to market in 2027, roughly half the development time of traditional synthetic products.

Participated · Convertible Note · Jul 2022

Phospholutions develops RhizoSorb, a product positioned to make phosphorus fertilizer use more effective so growers can apply less product for superior yields. The deck emphasizes sustainability benefits and reduced environmental impacts from inefficient phosphorus use. It acknowledges RhizoSorb is pricier than alternatives but argues efficacy and lower usage offset cost. The public materials show detailed efficacy data and go-to-market content, while several commercial and financial slides are heavily redacted. The company has been operating for about seven years and the pitch indicates ongoing commercialization. According to TechCrunch, the company recently closed a roughly $10M raise, bringing total capital raised to $32M. Phospholutions develops RhizoSorb, an additive that can be applied with phosphate or added during fertilizer manufacturing to improve phosphorus uptake by plants. The company says RhizoSorb can allow farmers to cut phosphorus fertilizer applications by about 50% without compromising yields. RhizoSorb has been tested on corn, soybean, wheat, barley, sunflower, chickpea, rice and turfgrass, with an initial focus on large row crops like corn. Phospholutions expanded field trials with digital ag company IN10T to 14 US states and plans further expansion to as many as 130 additional US corn fields in 2022, plus trials in New Zealand, Canada, Turkey, India, Brazil and parts of Africa. Financially, the company tripled in size last year after a $10.3 million Series A led by Continental Grain Company’s CGC Ventures and has recently completed a convertible-note financing to commercialize RhizoSorb in the US row-crop market. Phospholutions' core product, RhizoSorb, is a soil amendment or fertilizer additive that improves delivery of phosphorus and other nutrients and can be applied with phosphate or added during phosphate fertilizer manufacturing. The company reports "dramatic declines" of up to 75% in fertilizer use rates when RhizoSorb is applied. Phospholutions began by targeting turf and ornamental markets and is shifting toward row crops such as corn and soybeans. It will use the Series A funding to support general growth by building a farmer network, establishing partnerships, and running large-scale field trials to collect grower feedback. Management said the company expects to more than double its team this year. The startup sees two go-to-market paths—selling through retailers and distributors for blending, or targeting phosphate producers to incorporate RhizoSorb during production—and notes typical agricultural adoption and regulatory challenges. Phospholutions develops RhizoSorb, a patented soil‑enhancement product designed to reduce phosphorus runoff and improve plant health. The technology was originally created in Penn State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences. RhizoSorb aims to decrease the amount of water and fertilizer needed for plant growth while mitigating environmental impacts of phosphorus fertilizer. The company is led by CEO and Penn State alumnus Hunter Swisher. Phospholutions intends to use the new funds for the full commercial launch of RhizoSorb. The financing positions the company to move from development toward broader market deployment.

Participated · Series B · Oct 2020

TeleSense builds AI-powered software and wireless sensors that gather temperature, moisture, and location data to predict crop quality and detect issues like mold and insects during storage and transit. Its hardware portfolio includes CellularSpear, Gateway SensorSpear (LoRa), Waterproof SensorSpear, SensorBall (mesh networking), and BuffaloBox to support bunkers, bins, railcars, barges, ground piles and other use cases. An accompanying app analyzes incoming data, provides predictive models and prescriptive actions, and notifies stakeholders when compromised storage conditions are detected. TeleSense says it already helps over 400 major grain players and has recently opened offices in Australia and Europe. The company plans to use new funding to strengthen sales channels, speed production, and expand its data science and engineering teams. Financially, it raised $10.2 million in a Series B that brings total funding to over $17.4 million. TeleSense, based in Sunnyvale, California, provides Industrial IoT, real-time environmental monitoring solutions for grain and food production, storage and transport. Its systems automate data collection and wirelessly upload and analyze environmental data for assets at rest or in motion using cloud-based technology. The company plans to expand its data-driven solutions across the global agricultural supply chain with an initial focus on grain storage and transport. TeleSense intends to invest in R&D to further develop its GrainSafe™ artificial intelligence platform. As of August 2018 the company secured $6.5m in Series A financing. The company is led by co-founder and CEO Naeem Zafar.