Cycle Capital Management, a Montreal Cleantech venture capital fund and early investor in Inocucor, was joined in the funding by Desjardins Innovatech Canada's cooperative financial group with more than $200 billion in assets; Red Metal Capital, a Michigan-based family office fund; and Closed Loop Capital, an early-stage agriculture technology and food system innovation fund based in greater Philadelphia.
The investment will finance the commercial scale-up of Inocucor's patented first-in-class bio-stimulant product, Garden Solution, which is produced through fermentation akin to winemaking. Inocucor's patented technology enables it to isolate and combine multiple strains of naturally occurring yeasts and bacteria into powerful bio-stimulants that increase the microbial diversity of soils and speed delivery of nutrients to plants, thereby improving crop yields.
"Our business model calls for a range of bio-based products that ultimately will help farmers feed a growing population with fewer or no chemical inputs," said Donald R. Marvin, president and CEO of Inocucor.
Marvin said Inocucor's growth strategy is focused on establishing commercial partnerships that include its intellectual property as a key ingredient for new bio-stimulation, bio-fertility and bio-protection products for large-scale production farmers. It also plans to make strategic acquisitions that will hasten the commercialization of its proprietary microbial consortia technology and broaden its product pipeline.
Garden Solution, OMRI Listed for organic production, is approved for sale in 27 U.S. states. It is currently in use by farmers and greenhouse growers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Virginia. Marvin said Garden Solution's full registration in California, one of the world's largest agricultural economies, is imminent.
In June, the company will launch a follow-on equity financing round to support opening a U.S. office to better serve its commercial partners and customers. Inocucor will also expand large-scale field trials and commercialization activities in North and South America for its second- and third-generation cell-free biological formulations for bio-stimulation, proprietary new biological entities and active compounds for bio-fertility and bio-protection.
For more information:
www.inocucor.com
www.inocucor.com