Pillar VC partners with unstoppable founders from the moment of inception, providing the first capital. The firm is committed to helping founders grow with their companies, investing in their personal and professional development with connections, coaching, and community. From university spinouts led by first-time founders to serial entrepreneurs, backing the next generation of big, meaningful companies in Boston. Pillar VC is open to high-potential ventures of any type, with the bulk of our portfolio related to machine intelligence, AI, hardware, enterprise software, blockchain, quantum, digital health, and synthetic biology.

Pillar VC

UpHonest Capital is an early-stage, industry-agnostic venture capital firm that partners with companies from pre-seed stage to Series A. The firm invests in entrepreneurs and early-stage startups and then uses its resources to boost value creation through disruptive means.

UpHonest Capital

Collaborative Fund is an investment fund that provides funding to companies based on creativity and collaborative consumption. The fund centers around two macro themes which drives business innovation in the coming years: the growth of the creative class and the concept of collaborative consumption. Craig Shapiro founded it in New York in 2010.

Collaborative Fund

AgFunder invests in impactful companies that can positively transform the world's food system. Founded in 2013, AgFunder manages a portfolio of over 50 companies across four funds from offices in Silicon Valley and Singapore. Through its media platform AFN, it has built a global ecosystem of over 90,000 subscribers.

AgFunder

Nature Conservancy works toward achieving its goal of conserving lands and waters through the dedicated efforts of their diverse staff, including more than 600 scientists, located in all 50 U.S. states and more than 35 countries, with the help of many partners, from individuals and governments to local nonprofits and corporations by using a non-confrontational, collaborative approach.

The Nature Conservancy

Decent Capital is a venture capital firm with a cross-border presence. It was founded in 2007 by Jason Zeng, co-founder of Tencent Holdings Limited.  Decent Capital has two teams, venture investment and asset management, with offices in Hong Kong, mainland China, Singapore and the United States. Decent’s investment team invests from Seed to Series A, primarily focusing on SaaS, Consumer Internet, and Frontier Tech.  Decent has invested in over 200 companies globally, spanning across the United States, China, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Singapore. Decent upholds strong dedication to post-investment management, they continue to heavily support their portfolio companies’ business operations, supply chain and logistics, and future fundraising efforts. While Decent’s emphasis is on early-stage investments, they prioritize continuing to support portfolio companies throughout growth, for example, Decent invested in Lime from Seed to Series D.

Decent Capital

BoxGroup is an early-stage investment fund that invests in technology companies. The fund aims to invest in the consumer, enterprise, fintech, healthcare, life science, and marketplaces industries at the earliest stage, as early as pre-seed round and as late as Series A. It supports companies based on a conviction in the team and seeks entrepreneurs working at the beginning of movements in existing markets or new markets yet to be created and with visions to create the next generation of category-defining businesses. Their typical investment ranges from $200,000 to $500,000. Adam Rothenberg and David Tisch founded BoxGroup in 2009 in New York, New York.

BoxGroup

From spiraling healthcare costs, to the rise of chronic diseases, to feeding a growing global population, the world is facing a complex web of interrelated challenges. iSelect was created to help solve these problems, connecting investors with the innovative companies that are fixing the food and health systems while opening up access to investment opportunities that are making a real impact on the future of our world.

iSelect Fund

Embark Ventures is a pre-seed and seed stage fund focused on ''deep tech'' companies. We look for ambitious teams with break-through proprietary technology which provides a highly defensible competitive advantage in transforming multi-billion dollar industries. ​

Embark Ventures

Grantham Foundation seeks to protect and improve the health of global environmental issues and supports individuals and organizations. It also supports communication and collaboration in environmental protection, with an emphasis on climate change. The foundation focuses on communications to enable the general public to understand that climate change represents the world’s primary environmental threat today and that mitigating and adapting to a changing climate will lead to a more sustainable and prosperous future. Grantham Foundation was founded in 1997 by Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham and is based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Grantham Foundation

Lowercarbon Capital funds research and invests in technologies to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. The world has ignored the scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs who are pursuing solutions to lower emissions, remove carbon, actively cool the planet, and save human, animal, and plant life.

Lowercarbon Capital

Neglected Climate Opportunities a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Foundation.

Neglected Climate Opportunities

Bopucoin is a service platform focusing on digital asset trading and hedging. Established in Boston in 2020, it has a professional team and top technical support to provide high-quality services for users around the world.

BOPU

Founded in 2019, Ying Fund is a global venture capital and accelerator with a mission to finance and boost creative early-stage startups. We provide the tools needed to quickly scale and achieve series A round with the correct model, go to market strategy, and the right team. We are enthusiastic about consumer，entertainment, health and retail companies. To these partnerships we bring adaptable capital, deep domain knowledge, access to transformative industry connections and strategic and operational skill to our investments.

Ying Fund

HT Capital, an establishment under Hongtao (HT) Asset Management has been actively investing since 1999. The management team, based between Beijing and Hong Kong covers a full-spectrum of investment activities and strategic portfolio managements in varies sectors including Healthcare, IT and the TMT industry.

HT Capital

Early-stage, sector agnostic deep tech fund investing in disruptive and impactful companies.

Taihill Venture

Kula Bio

Kula Bio specializes in sustainable, biological solutions for modern agriculture. It energizes nitrogen-fixing microbes to produce organic fertilizer. By rewiring the energy flow from the sun to soil, they are disrupting synthetic fertilizer to eliminate the division between affordable practices and stewardship of our land, sea, and air. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Based in Massachusetts, Kula Bio offers “Kula-N,” a patent-protected crop-agnostic biofertilizer that uses the “Xanthobacter autotrophicus” bacteria to fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. Kula Bio grows the microbes to a high density using a proprietary process and then fed a carbon-rich energy source to “energize” the bacteria. The microbes are stated to have the ability to store energy, allowing them to function for weeks. The company claims that Kula-N reduces synthetic fertilizer usage by 50% and “communicates” with the plant to supply nitrogen on demand. In addition, it provides the soil with soil organic carbon (SOC) once the microbes die and reduces runoff.&nbsp;

Natural Fertilizers

Effertz Joins Kula Bio as Head of Field Technology for New Biofertilizer, Kula-N

Based in Massachusetts, Kula Bio offers “Kula-N,” a patent-protected crop-agnostic biofertilizer that uses the “Xanthobacter autotrophicus” bacteria to fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. Kula Bio grows the microbes to a high density using a proprietary process and then fed a carbon-rich energy source to “energize” the bacteria. The microbes are stated to have the ability to store energy, allowing them to function for weeks. The company claims that Kula-N reduces synthetic fertilizer usage by 50% and “communicates” with the plant to supply nitrogen on demand. In addition, it provides the soil with soil organic carbon (SOC) once the microbes die and reduces runoff.&nbsp;As of June 2024, Kula Bio had not commercialized its product yet. The company planned to launch by the end of 2022 or early 2023 at a cost-competitive price compared with traditional fertilizer. It also revealed plans to build manufacturing facilities near major produce farmers in California and Arizona.Funding and financialsIn January 2022, Kula Bio raised USD 50 million in Series A funding led by Lowercarbon Capital to increase production capacity and further develop its fertilizer technology to include row crops such as corn and soybeans.&nbsp;

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 Based in Michigan, Gantec offers plant-based liquid fertilizers, micronutrient supplements, concentrates and biopesticides using a proprietary process called “Bio-Adaptive Supplementation” (BAS). BAS extracts properties from plants that thrive in extreme environments such as the neem tree and converts them into fertilizers. Gantec’s products can be applied to a range of crops, including field crops, root crops, vegetables, and tree and bush crops. The company initially began sourcing its raw materials from West Africa, and, as of May 2022,  sourced it from six continents.  
 
 
 Gantec’s BAS solutions claim to improve plant resiliency, nutrient uptake, yield, and growth. For instance, based on a trial conducted by the Saginaw Valley State University, applying the company’s GantecPro liquid fertilizer to cherry tomatoes increased the yield by 17%. For potatoes, based on another trial conducted by the Michigan State University, applying GantecPro increased the yield by 11%. 
 
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Gantec Inc

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 Based in Washington, Impact Bioenergy manufactures portable systems that convert organic waste to produce electricity and fertilizer. The company started manufacturing its own biofertilizer product called “ProBiotic Plant Food” (PBF)  in July 2020. PBF is a compost biofertilizer, which is made by first creating a “smoothie” from waste food such as spent yeast, curds, whey, and trub. This is then digested by microbes in a 30-day process to convert it into PBF. The final product is dried and pulverized to create a mix called “PBF Mix No 7.” Based on a trial conducted by Forest Garden Farm for a butternut squash tree, PBF increased yields by almost 30% compared to using a standard fertilizer. 
 
 
 The company also adds fish bone meal, poultry feather meal, biochar, and mealworm frass to the base product to produce different blends of PBF, which is offered as a dry blend or concentrated liquid blend that can be mixed with water to make a fertigation liquid. PBF initially was available to B2B customers on a subscription basis and then later targeted B2C customers selling online via ecommerce sites such as Amazon.  
 
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Impact bioenergy

Based in France, Toopi Organics converts human urine (which is naturally high in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) into fertilizer called “BACTIPI" using a proprietary patented fermentation process. The process involves collecting and filtering ‘pure’ urine (not mixed with water) from public places including schools, stadiums, and amusement parks before fermentation. The company ferments the cleaned urine at its production facility in Loupiac de la Réole France using 5,000 liter fermentation tanks along with sugar and Lactobacillus paracasei lactic bacteria to create a 100% organic fertilizer.“BACTIPI” can be applied to field crops, vine crops, home gardening, and industrial crops and promotes the growth of microorganisms and solubilizes phosphorus in the soil, increasing plant and root growth. The company has demonstrated that its fertilizer has similar efficiency and is a cheaper alternative to other chemical fertilizers in the market.Toopi aims to partner with local companies including farmers, fertilizer distributors, and sanitation companies to set up and operate urine processing plants. Toopi will handle the production of the fertilizer, while the partnering company will handle distribution. As of May 2022, Toopi states had set up a subsidiary in Belgium and was actively working with companies in Benin and Kenya to commercialize its products. The company had also signed an agreement with a large fertilizer distributor in France (name undisclosed) to sell its fertilizer for the following three years. Toopi has received approval to sell its products in Belgium and expects to obtain the same in France in 2022.Financials and Funding:In <a href="https://techfundingnews.com/french-startup-toopi-organics-raises-95m-to-turn-human-urine-into-crop-biostimulants/">November 2023</a>, Toopi Organics raised EUR 8.4 million (~USD 9 million) from EIC Accelerator, a European innovation programme for deep tech startups. The funding comprises a EUR 2.4 million non-dilutive grant and EUR 6 million in equity to be invested in 2025. Also, in <a href="https://techfundingnews.com/french-startup-toopi-organics-raises-95m-to-turn-human-urine-into-crop-biostimulants/">September 2023</a>, the company raised EUR 16 million (~USD 17 million) in funding to expand its urine collection network.&nbsp;Previously, In <a href="https://www.eu-startups.com/2021/04/bordeaux-based-toopi-organics-scales-up-urine-recycling-network-in-france-with-e3-8-million-funding">April 2021</a>, The company received a EUR 3.8 million (~USD 4.1 million) grant from ADEME (The French Agency for Ecological Transition). The company planned to use the funds to build a network of urine recycling plants in partnership with toilet manufacturers, installers, and collectors.

Greentech TOOPI Organics

Reazent is a Canadian company that has developed a patented technology to organically replace agrochemicals. The company focuses on loading plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) to treat the soil and the plant. The company states that its technology can be applied across a wide range of crops such as soybean, peanuts, wheat, kale, and lettuce.Studies show that only 0.1% PGPR strains have been commercialized to date. Reazent claims that its competitive advantage is that it can work with up to 116 PGPR strains and has identified that soil bacteria have a second metabolite that can be used to up-regulate plant defense and root growth genes in plants. The company further claims that its technology helps in achieving an improvement of 5x in the plant’s immune system, thereby providing protection against pesticides as well.As of June 2022, the company has not commercialized and is actively working on obtaining regulatory approval for the sale of its products in Canada and the US. Based on trials conducted in 2020 across different growing conditions, its product has demonstrated a 400% increase in soybean root nodules, a 30% increase in peanuts above-ground biomass, and up to a 35% increase in peanuts pod dry weight when compared with synthetic and other organic products. In October 2020, the company reported that it had many trials underway, including for tomato, and was expecting results by December 2021. The company noted in November 2021 that it would be extensively trialing its fertilizer product for soybeans in North America, Brazil, and India during the following growing season.Funding and financialsIn May 2020, the company received CAD 350,000 (USD 250,000) in seed funding as part of joining IndieBio’s accelerator program. The funds were to be used to conduct trials for its prototype fertilizer product at the <a href="http://www.verschurencentre.ca/">Verschuren Center for Sustainability in Energy and the Environment </a>at Cape Breton University ass well as to develop its product for large-scale trials. In <a href="https://crushdynamics.com/news/natural-products-canada-supports-over-4m-in-commercialization-activity-for-seven-promising-canadian-food-and-agriculture-companies/">February 2023</a>, the company raised USD 15,600 from Natural Products Canada, a non-profit organization that supports Canadian bio-based innovation and commercialization to fast-track the development of a regulatory plan.

Reazent

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 Based in Spain, Ficosterra is a marine biotechnology company that offers seaweed and algae-based fertilizers and biostimulants, with applications in agriculture, landscaping, and turf. The company offers fertilizer under the brands “Ficosterra-g” (algae-based) and “Ficosgreen” (algae and seaweed-based), made using its “Biological Crop Booster” (BCB) technology. BCB combines microbes and algae extracts to produce soil-regenerating microbes.
 
 
 As of June 2022, Ficosterra operated two manufacturing facilities in Mexico and Spain and sold its products via its own online store, serving the local and overseas markets (launched across the US and Europe in 2019). 
 
 
 To expand the reach of its products in Spain, in October 2018, the company partnered with Sipcam Jardin, a Spanish multinational distributor of fertilizers, nutrients, and biostimulants, for the distribution of “Ficosterra-g,” Ficosterra’s algae-based fertilizer. In January 2021, Ficosterra also partnered with Algas Marinas (AlgaMar), a Mexico-based company producing algae-based products for agriculture and human consumption, to jointly launch “Ficosterra America,” which would serve both the American and European markets. Ficosterra and AlgaMar were to combine their seaweed and algae nutrient-extracting technologies to develop and produce fertilizer.
 
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Focisterra

Contain bacteria such as Rhizobia, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, and blue-green algae that transform nitrogen into organic compounds that can be absorbed by the plant

Contain bacteria and fungi capable of breaking down insoluble phosphates to make them available to crops

Contain rhizobacteria that can act as biofertilizers, bioprotectants

Contain organic matter such as animal dung which enriches the soil with microorganisms

Fertilizers derived from animal materials such as cow manure, crushed animal bones, animal blood, shellfish, and fish meal

Fertilizers made with plant material such as compost produced from plant waste, seaweed, cottonseed meal, and soybean meal

Fertilizers developed from natural elements like greensand, rock phosphate, and nitrogen from air

Provides a natural alternative to chemical fertilizers

Kula Bio

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