Vancouver-based Catalera BioSolutions, which develops biological pesticides for agricultural use, has secured $8.8 million CAD ($6.5 million USD) in Series A funding.
The all-equity round was led by Chicago-based agtech investor S2G Ventures, with participation from crown corporation Farm Credit Canada (FCC) Capital. Catalera expects to close a second tranche that could bring the round up to $10.8 million CAD ($8 million USD) before the end of the year.
Catalera launched in May after spinning out from Terramera, a Vancouver agtech company that develops soil composition analysis and biological pest control solutions. Catalera’s CEO, Matthew Dahabieh, was a senior vice president at Terramera and its head of green chemistry solutions. S2G Ventures also backed Terramera’s $59.5 million CAD Series B round in 2019.
Catalera is a fully independent company focused on commercializing biological products using Terramera’s core technological foundation, the company told BetaKit in an email statement, adding that Terramera is a Catalera shareholder.
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As opposed to chemicals, Catalera develops a line of biological fungicides, insecticides, and miticides designed for use on crops. The company claims, among other features, that its internal development platform uses proprietary algorithms to detect the impacts of its products on pests and plants better than the human eye.
Dahabieh said in a statement that the Catalera team has been developing biological products for over a decade, adding that the funding will be used to help the spinout go to market.
Catalera also noted this round represents the first investment by FCC’s newly created Capital arm. FCC, which typically provides loans and knowledge support in the agricultural sector, aims to deploy $4 billion from its Capital arm to support the “high-impact areas” in Canada’s agriculture and food system over the next five years.
“This transaction aligns with FCC’s commitment to build a capital solutions platform which delivers impactful financing for innovative companies with the potential to advance the Canadian food and agriculture industry,” FCC president and CEO Justine Hendricks said in a statement. “We are excited to support Catalera BioSolutions and leverage our expertise, data, and relationships to help them grow and succeed.”
Feature image courtesy Catalera.