SOSV is a global, deep tech venture capital firm that operates the HAX and IndieBio startup development programs focused on human and planetary health. SOSV invests $500,000 in startups at their inception as they onboard either HAX or IndieBio for a 4-6 month period designed to accelerate the raise of their next institutional round. SOSV joins the later rounds of HAX and IndieBio graduates.  HAX, based in a 35,000 sq ft facility in Newark, NJ, is equipped with machine tools, 3D printers, chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering labs, as well as on-staff engineering and design experts. SOSV's IndieBio has locations in NYC and San Francisco, both of which offer extensive services and facilities to founders including on-site BSL-2 labs, well equipped lab benches and hoods, and advanced lab equipment, such as chromatography equipment.

SOSV

IndieBio is the world’s first accelerator devoted to startups using biology to solve the world's largest problems. IndieBio is an SOSV program. SOSV is a global venture capital firm that operates startup accelerator investment programs. At the close of 2020, SOSV had more than 1,000 portfolio companies and $855 million in assets under management.

IndieBio

Pyrone Systems

Pyrone Systems develops biopesticides that combine biology with chemistry. The company was founded in 2021.

Pyrone Systems is a biotechnology company focused on developing sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional chemical-based products. The company's core technology revolves around a proprietary bioprocess for converting fatty acids into polyketides, particularly triacetic acid lactone (TAL). TAL serves as a versatile precursor molecule with numerous applications across various industries.

Meet the 13 startups in IndieBio's SF cohort, and discover what about each swayed investors

Pyrone Systems: Making Petrochemicals Obsolete

Pyrone Systems Inc

Meet the 12 startups in IndieBio’s SF cohort and learn what has been influenced by the investors with each – TechCrunch

Biologically protecting plants from pests

Biopesticides

Pyrone Systems is a biotechnology company focused on developing sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional chemical-based products. The company's core technology revolves around a proprietary bioprocess for converting fatty acids into polyketides, particularly triacetic acid lactone (TAL). TAL serves as a versatile precursor molecule with numerous applications across various industries.
Pyrone Systems has developed a novel approach to producing TAL through a cost-effective fermentation process using genetically engineered yeast. This method enables the company to synthesize TAL and other bio-based chemicals from renewable sources, such as plant-derived fatty acids, replacing their petrochemical-derived counterparts.
One of Pyrone Systems' initial product offerings is pogostone, a natural insecticide derived from TAL. Pogostone has demonstrated remarkable potency as a biopesticide, selectively stunning pests like mosquitoes without causing fatalities. The company aims to introduce pogostone as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional synthetic insecticides in the professional household pest control market, estimated to be worth around USD 2 billion.
While pogostone represents an immediate application of Pyrone Systems' technology, the company's long-term vision is to evolve into a leading green chemistry platform capable of producing a wide range of bio-based chemicals from TAL. These chemicals could potentially replace their petrochemical counterparts across various industries, including lubricants, corrosion inhibitors, and other industrial applications.
Pyrone Systems was founded by a team of experienced professionals with diverse expertise in areas such as biochemistry, industrial biotechnology, and the insecticide industry. The company's founders include Alex Hutagalung, a biochemist with a patented process for converting fatty acids to polyketides; Brian Conn, a biotechnology industry veteran; Brent Shanks, a researcher focused on TAL-based products; and Steve Bessette, a seasoned professional in the insecticide industry.

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

Pyrone Systems

Sources

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless