Technology for clean food company Terramera announced Thursday that it has received $13 million CAD in growth capital financing from BDC.
“Our goal is to help increase agriculture yields by 20 percent while reducing the synthetic chemical load in agriculture by 80 percent.”
The money will go towards the company’s facilities, equipment, and staffing, as well as research and development, in order to accelerate commercialization. Just last year, the cleantech company received $2.5 million CAD from the federal government, through Sustainable Development Technology Canada.
Vancouver-based Terramera specializes in technology for clean food by developing natural alternatives to chemical pesticides and fertilizers, while aiming to increase agriculture yield. Last month, for the second year in a row, Terramera was one of 12 Canadian firms named in the 2019 Global Cleantech 100 list, an annual guide to the world’s top 100 companies in green tech innovation.
“Our goal is to help increase global agriculture yields by 20 percent while reducing the synthetic chemical load in agriculture by 80 percent by 2028, positively impacting the lives of at least a billion people and the economics of agriculture,” said Karn Manhas, founder and CEO of Terramera. “Working to achieve these goals is imperative to feed the world’s growing population with sustainable, regenerative solutions.”
BDC’s funding for Terramera is in the form of subordinated debt, a type of loan that is paid after all other corporate debts and loans are repaid, in the case of borrower default. The $13 million is part of BDC’s five-year initiative to invest in cleantech companies. Last January, BDC received $700 million from the federal government, as part of the government’s promise to invest $2.3 billion in cleantech. In December, BDC invested $6 million into Effenco, which develops hybrid (electrical and gas) solutions for trucks.
“Terramera is excellently positioned to scale and deliver on its vision of achieving greater global food security, thanks to its very promising technologies and talented management technical team,” said Susan Rohac, VP of cleantech practice at BDC.
Terramera noted, the industry of natural alternatives to pesticides and fertilizers represents a $100 billion dollar market.
Featured image via Pixabay.