Pivot Bio

California-based Pivot Bio offers biofertilizers for cereal crops, including corn and wheat, under the “Pivot Bio PROVEN” and “Pivot Bio RETURN” brands, which use microbes to create and feed nitrogen to plants by fixing atmospheric nitrogen. The company screens microbes that naturally occur in crop soils and selects the strains with suitable internal DNA that can produce nitrogen. The company uses a proprietary fermentation process and sugar to grow its microbes until it reaches a high concentration that is suitable to sell to farmers. The fertilizer comes in liquid form and is applied to seeds at the time of planting. As per trials, the microbes recorded strong performance in challenging soil conditions producing 17 bushels per acre compared with synthetic nitrogen, which yields 12–15 bushels per acre.

The company claims that its fermentation process replaces the conventional “Haber-Bosch” process—an energy-intense process used to produce synthetic nitrogen fertilizer—and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 98%. In addition, the microbes are resistant and do not wash away after extreme weather conditions, providing a consistent source of nitrogen. 

Following years of research and trials, in 2019, Pivot Bio launched its first commercial product Pivot Bio PROVEN and reported that the product sold out within six weeks. In 2020, the company introduced “Pivot Bio RETURN,” a fertilizer for spring wheat and sorghum, to farmers in the US via a limited early-adopter program. RETURN was also reported to have been sold out for the 2020 season. The company stated at the time that it planned to increase production in 2021 and launch it for all wheat classes. In July 2021, the company launched “Pivot Bio PROVEN 40,” its second-generation corn fertilizer product that allows corn growers to replace up to 40 lbs of synthetic nitrogen per acre with the company’s fertilizer. 

As of July 2021, the company’s fertilizer was used on more than 1 million acres in the US, generating 3x times the revenue in 2020. Pivot Bio sells its fertilizer based on a direct-to-grower model in the US and, as of August 2019, reported that it was on track to secure 150+ sales representatives with access to more than 5 million corn acres across 20 states for sales of PROVEN. In September 2023, Pivot Bio announced plans to build a 47,000 sq ft facility in Hazelwood, Missouri with USD 20 million investment in the project. 

Key customers and partnerships

Pivot Bio expanded its scope to include soybeans by partnering with Bayer subsidiary Monsanto Company in November 2018. The partnership was to develop a nitrogen-fixing fertilizer for soybeans based on the “Bradyrhizobium” strain and begin field trials in 2021. 

In February 2024, the company partnered with Iowa State University to open a 36,000 sq ft Customer Success Center at the University Research Park to develop microbial nitrogen solutions to replace synthetic fertilizers, investing USD 14 million.

Funding and financials

In July 2021, Pivot Bio raised USD 430 million in Series D funding led by DVCV and Temasek, valuing the company at USD 2 billion. The funds were to be used for the launch of new products for corn, wheat, and rice; scaling its US operations; and expanding into international markets.