Leaps by Bayer invests in paradigm-shifting advances in the life sciences and specializes in the fields of biotechnology, agriculture, and scientific breakthrough. The firm's approach is making significant and sustained investments in disruptive biotechnologies that could have the greatest impact on humanity. It was founded in 2015 and headquartered in Leverkusen, Nordrhein-Westfalen.

Leaps by Bayer

Polaris Partners invests in healthcare and biotechnology companies. Their healthcare portfolio companies' care delivery models include digital health, consumer-centric businesses, patient-provider solutions, data science, and analytics. Their life sciences and biotechnology portfolio companies focus on molecules and platforms, therapeutics, and genomics.

Polaris Partners

ARCH invests primarily in companies co-founded by scientists and entrepreneurs, concentrating on bringing to market innovations in life sciences. They enjoy special recognition as a leader in the successful commercialization of technologies developed at academic research institutions and national laboratories. ARCH has raised ten venture funds totaling over $3 billion and has invested in the venture capital rounds for more than 150 companies. ARCH investors include corporations, pension funds, endowment funds, financial institutions, and private investors.

ARCH Venture Partners

Innotech Advisers

With some 25 tiny technology companies in our portfolio, Harris & Harris Group, Inc.Â®, is one of the most active nanotechnology investors in the world. They have funded companies developing nanoscale-enabled solutions in solid state lighting, emerging memory devices, printable electronics, material science discovery and mass-manufacturing, organic-inorganic hybrids, next-generation semiconductor devices and equipment, thermoelectric, photovoltaic and battery technologies, as well as in various life-science applications of nano-structured materials.  They participate in venture capital syndicates in most of their investments, alongside top-tier venture capital firms as well as strategic (corporate) investors. Increasingly, Harris & Harris Group is a lead investor. They believe in the classical early stage venture capital model and disciplines and that most technology-based start-ups can use all the help they can get from the diversified experiences, RolodexesÂ®, complimentary business networks, technical expertise, up-to-date customer connections and financial resources that a syndicate of professional venture capital investors can provide.  Harris & Harris Group will invest at any stage prior to a company's initial public offering, and they will invest anywhere in the United States. Occasionally, they have also made private investments in publicly held companies (so-called ''PIPE'' investments). They have invested outside the United States, but rarely. Their current portfolio companies are distributed all across the country, plus one in Canada.  Harris & Harris Group is looking for scientific, technological, business and execution excellence. They are attracted to markets of significant size and back passionate entrepreneurs who want to change the world with their tiny technology-enabled products.  Proprietary, well-protected and highly differentiated technology is a prerequisite. But above all, they are eager to invest in companies with market-centric strategies that seek to define and dominate large product categories.

180 Degree Capital

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a grant-making foundation that supports initiatives in education, world health and population, and community giving in the Pacific Northwest. In its local region, the foundation promotes strategies and programs that help low income families.The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was co-founded by Bill Gates and Melinda Gates in 2000 and is based in Seattle, Washington, with regional offices in Washington, D.C.; New Delhi, India; Beijing, China; and London, United Kingdom. Its trustees are Bill and Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Syngenta Ventures is the corporate venture capital (VC) team of Syngenta, a leading agriculture company helping to improve global food security by enabling farmers to make better use of available resources. Created in 2009, Syngenta Ventures was one of the first venture capital teams dedicated to agriculture. With an experienced team of investment professionals possessing more than 45 collective years of VC experience, Syngenta Ventures has established itself as one of the most active and knowledgeable agricultural investors. Syngenta Ventures is stage agnostic, from investing in seed rounds to larger growth equity rounds. They typically invest alongside other financial and corporate VC investors, and they avoid asking for any rights or options for Syngenta as they recognize the importance of having the interests of all shareholders aligned. They use their deep experience as investors and running commercial Ag businesses to work with their portfolio companies to help them maximize their potential value. They often take board or board observer roles, spending the time needed with the company and management to help them achieve their goals. Finally, they are connected into Syngenta, ranging from R&D to commercial teams, around the world. They can help their portfolio companies validate new products in field trials, increase market visibility, and share industry knowledge and contacts. While they encourage technical and/or commercial collaboration with Syngenta, these are negotiated by Syngenta and not connected to their investment. Linked to this, they maintain a strict firewall with Syngenta to protect any confidential information from being shared. They take this responsibility seriously and can provide references from their portfolio companies to demonstrate this.

Syngenta Ventures

Aliment Capital is a pioneering growth capital investor in food and agriculture technology. It makes global investments in growing businesses that boost agricultural productivity, nutrition, health, sustainability, and supply chain efficiency. The firm was founded in 2014 and is based in Santa Monica, California.

Aliment Capital

University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO) is an endowment arm of University of Texas. The firm manages various endowment funds and other operating fixed income and equity funds. It invests in the public equity, fixed income, and alternative investments markets of the United States. The firm invests in short-term money market obligations, including securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, certificates of deposit, time deposits, bankers’ acceptances and other short-term obligations issued by domestic banks, or London branches of domestic banks, repurchase agreements, and high grade investment bonds to make its fixed income investments. University of Texas Investment Management Company was founded in March 1996 and is based in Austin, Texas.

UTIMCO

Fidelity is a privately owned investment management firm that serves a wide range of clients. It offers services including IRAs, rollovers, annuities, discount brokerage, retirement planning, estate planning, wealth management, securities execution and clearance, and life insurance. They serve individual investors, businesses, financial advisors, and institutions. The firm manages equity, fixed-income, and balanced mutual funds and invests in public equity and fixed-income markets. It also conducts in-house research to inform its investment decisions.

Fidelity

Blue Horizon Corporation is an investment firm that invests in companies and businesses in the agriculture and food processing sector. The firm also partners with farmers, food producers, and distribution chains. It was founded in 2016 and headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Plant based, food tech,

Blue Horizon Corporation

Novalis Lifesciences LLC, is a globally acting venture capital firm focused on breakthrough technologies in Life Science. Founded and managed by Dr. Marijn E. Dekkers, current chairman of Unilever and former chief executive officer of Bayer AG and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Novalis works with a diversified group of project-based specialists leading in their respective life science fields

Novalis LifeSciences

DOV Management is a New York-based investment firm with focus on frontier technology companies.    We leverage multiple approaches and alternative investment strategies across venture capital, private equity and digital assets to create value for investors seeking durable growth and long-lasting capital appreciation through all market cycles and across the entire risk spectrum.

DOV Management

Founded in 2019, Volta Circle is an early-stage evergreen VC investor, based in London and backed by a single LP. The firm invests in technology-driven startups across three core verticals covering food systems, circularity and climate, with a mission to enable founders to create maximum value, scale, and impact. The team is based between Geneva, Milan, London and Bangkok.

Volta Circle

AgBiome

AgBiome is a biotechnology company using new knowledge of the plant-associated microbiome to create innovative products for agriculture. Partnerships with leading agricultural companies to accelerate our discovery process and allow us to deliver solutions for global markets. We employ 85 full-time and 2 part-time employees and occupy a state-of-the-art 30,000 square foot laboratory and greenhouse facility in the Research Triangle Park in Durham, North Carolina. AgBiome’s products will help farmers combat many of the most important unsolved problems in agriculture, including insects, nematodes, and diseases.

AgBiome is a biotechnology company headquartered in the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, that specializes in developing innovative biological and trait products for crop protection. Their core business revolves around harnessing the power of microbes to enhance global food production sustainably. AgBiome's proprietary GENESIS platform allows them to efficiently capture, screen, and analyze a diverse collection of over 100,000 microbes isolated from environmental samples across the US and Africa. This platform enables AgBiome to identify microbes with beneficial properties and determine their applications in agriculture.

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AgBiome is a biotechnology company headquartered in the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, that specializes in developing innovative biological and trait products for crop protection. Their core business revolves around harnessing the power of microbes to enhance global food production sustainably. AgBiome's proprietary GENESIS platform allows them to efficiently capture, screen, and analyze a diverse collection of over 100,000 microbes isolated from environmental samples across the US and Africa. This platform enables AgBiome to identify microbes with beneficial properties and determine their applications in agriculture.
One of AgBiome's flagship products is Howler, a revolutionary biological fungicide that utilizes a bacterial strain (Pseudomonas chlororaphis) to produce natural metabolites and enzymes, providing preventative, long-lasting, and broad-spectrum disease control in various crops. Howler has proven highly efficacious, performing competitively with conventional chemical fungicides while offering a more sustainable option for farmers.
AgBiome's commitment to sustainability is evident in their pursuit of developing environmentally friendly products derived from nature. In 2023, they became one of the first agricultural biotech organizations and the only one with two EPA-registered products to be certified as a B Corporation, demonstrating their adherence to the highest standards of social and environmental performance.
In addition to fungicides, AgBiome is actively developing biological solutions for insect control, nematode control, and weed control, addressing critical challenges faced by farmers worldwide.

Groundwork BioAg is an Israeli bioagriculture company that produces mycorrhizal inoculants for mainstream agriculture. Its flagship product line, Rootella, consists of highly concentrated mycorrhizal fungi that establish a symbiotic relationship with plant roots, extending their reach into the soil. This symbiosis enables plants to access otherwise unavailable nutrients, especially phosphorus, leading to significant crop yield improvements. Additionally, Rootella enhances plant resilience to various stresses like drought and salinity while reducing fertilizer dependency.
Groundwork BioAg's Mycorrhizal BioPlatform, driven by innovative high-volume production techniques, has been successfully commercialized across major agricultural regions globally. These include the US, Brazil, China, India, Canada, Ukraine, Europe, Asia, and Africa, catering to crops like corn, soybeans, grains, fruits, and vegetables. A standout offering is Tormos, a granular mycorrhizal inoculant tailored for Indian farming practices, developed through a collaboration with ADAMA.
In 2022, Groundwork BioAg raised USD 18 million in Series B funding led by Climate Innovation Capital, underscoring the demand for yield-enhancing biologicals that sequester carbon and promote regenerative agriculture. The company's technology enables conventional and regenerative farmers to achieve higher profitability while permanently sequestering carbon in their fields. Groundwork BioAg has also launched the Rootella Carbon program in 2023, aiming to sequester one gigaton of CO2 within a decade through its mycorrhizal inoculants.
Key customers and partnerships
In 2023, Groundwork BioAg expanded its North American team by appointing Andrew Duff as General Manager to accelerate the adoption of Rootella mycorrhizal inoculants among mainstream growers in the US.
In June 2022, Groundwork BioAg partnered with ADAMA, a leading global crop protection company, to offer the Tormos mycorrhizal inoculant in India. This collaboration leverages ADAMA's extensive farmer network and Groundwork BioAg's Mycorrhizal BioPlatform to provide cost-effective solutions to Indian growers.

Groundwork BioAG

Solasta Bio is a Glasgow-based agritech company specializing in the development of peptide-based bioinsecticides for crop protection. Founded in 2020 as a spin-out from the University of Glasgow, the company has created the world's first technology platform for producing neuropeptide-based Insect Control Agents (ICAs) derived from nature rather than synthetic chemistry.
These ICAs are designed to disrupt targeted physiological processes in insect pests, effectively controlling them while leaving beneficial pollinators like bees and other non-target species unharmed. Solasta Bio's solutions offer unique insect specificity, proven efficacy on par with traditional chemical insecticides, and an environmentally friendly, biodegradable approach that does not accumulate residues in nature.
Solasta Bio's platform enables the company to target a wide spectrum of pests, including those resistant to synthetic chemistries. The company aims to bring its first ICA products to market by 2027/2028, approximately half the time traditionally required for synthetic pest control products. Its technology is patent-protected, and an additional patent application is pending.
In February 2024, Solasta Bio announced the successful completion of over 20 field trials across Europe, the UK, and the US, demonstrating the efficacy and safety of its ICAs across various crops and pests, including aphids, Spotted Wing Drosophila, caterpillars, and leafhoppers.

Solasta Bio

Enko Chem, Inc. is a crop health company focused on developing sustainable crop solutions to address global food security challenges. The company utilizes its proprietary ENKOMPASS technology platform, which combines DNA-encoded library screening, machine learning, and structure-based design, to discover novel crop protection chemistries. This approach enables Enko to rapidly identify new, better-performing, and more targeted molecules across various categories of crop protection products.
Enko's current pipeline is led by a range of herbicides designed to break cycles of weed and pest resistance while reducing environmental impact compared to existing solutions. The company aims to provide effective crop protection solutions that help growers adapt to and mitigate challenges exacerbated by climate change, such as pesticide-resistant weeds, fungus, and pests.
Since its inception in 2017, Enko has generated hundreds of leading molecules through its technology platform. In January 2023, the company announced an USD 80 million Series C funding round, bringing its total capital raised to USD 150 million. The additional funds will be utilized to advance Enko's product pipeline and support the company's efforts to bring new crop protection solutions to market.

Enko Chem

BioPhero is a Denmark-based company that has developed a pioneering and highly efficient yeast fermentation process for manufacturing pheromones at significantly lower costs and with fewer production steps compared to traditional chemical synthesis methods. Pheromones are compounds used in integrated pest management programs for controlling insect populations by disrupting the mating process, thereby reducing egg-laying and decreasing the next generation of the target insect species. BioPhero's patented fermentation technology allows for the sustainable and cost-effective production of pheromones, expanding their potential application from specialty crops like fruits and vegetables to large-scale row crops such as corn, soybeans, and rice.
Through its innovative bioprocessing platform, BioPhero aims to make pheromones widely available and contribute to sustainable agriculture by offering an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional insecticides. The company's pheromone products are highly specific to target pests, promoting biodiversity and posing no threat to pollinators or beneficial insects. FMC Corporation, a leading agricultural sciences company, acquired BioPhero in July 2022 for approximately USD 200 million, integrating its pheromone platform into FMC's biologicals business. FMC projects revenue from pheromones and pheromone-based insect control products to reach approximately USD 1 billion with above company-average EBITDA margin by 2030.

BioPhero

Redag Crop Protection is a biotechnology research and development company focused on developing novel crop protection products. The company's core technology is the Redox Switch platform, which allows for the creation of new compounds by modifying the oxidation state of existing best-in-class products. This approach provides Redag Crop Protection with a pipeline of candidates across multiple high-value applications in the crop protection industry.
The Redox Switch platform offers several advantages. It enables the company to secure intellectual property rights around existing products by creating structurally similar but chemically distinct compounds. These new compounds share similarities with well-characterized parent compounds, reducing the risk profile, development time, testing redundancy, and overall cost of bringing products to market. Additionally, the structural similarity to existing product classes means that Redag Crop Protection can leverage current manufacturing assets, further reducing market entry costs.

Redag Crop Protection

Companies that use microscopic living organisms (such as viruses, bacteria or nematodes) or toxins produced by these organisms to act as pest control. This also includes companies developing technology platforms to use microorganism chemistry to develop different kinds of microbial pesticides.

Companies that develop pesticide substances produced by plants as a result of genetic manipulation. These companies use technology such as genetic engineering to derive natural substances that plants can produce to kill pests that feed on them.

Companies that use machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to develop plant-based replacements to synthetic chemical. These companies develop biochemicals that use naturally occurring substances such as pheromones, and insect attractants to trap and control pests in plants.  This also includes companies that offer plant intelligence for creating biochemicals.

Companies that use naturally occurring plant materials such as Azadirachtin, nicotinoids, natural pyrethrins, rotenoids,  and neem products in full or dilute form for pest and insect controls.

Companies that use natural enemies or predators like lady beetle, true bug, lacewings or parasitoids to protect the plants from pests.

Companies that use natural resources such as diatomaceous earth, mineral oil, water, minerals such as sulfur, potassium, or even organic acids for controlling various types of pests.

Companies that use biologically-derived substances such as microorganisms, seaweed extracts, and other organic matter that are applied to the plants or the soil to improve nutrient uptake, enhance tolerance of plant stress, and in turn improve crop growth and yield.

Provides natural alternatives to chemical pesticides

Processes often use AI and machine learning-based tech platforms to formulate biopesticides

AgBiome

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