Leaps by Bayer, the investment arm of Bayer AG, Leverkusen, Germany, on Sept. 14, announced that it has co-led a US$15 million Series A investment round in agriculture and biotechnology company Andes, Emeryville, Calif., with Cavallo Ventures. Other new investors Builders VC, Germin8, Accelr8, and Wilson Sonsini participated, alongside existing investors KdT Ventures and Endurance.
“We invest in paradigm-shifting advances that can radically reduce the environmental impact of agriculture,” said Dr. Jürgen Eckhardt, Head of Leaps by Bayer. “Andes is an exceptional example of that: using novel seed technology to reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers, and developing the next generation of agricultural carbon capture solutions. It’s exciting that our funding will help the Andes team scale its current offering and explore the possibilities of truly world-changing technologies like carbon capture.”
Andes said using its first generation Microprime seed treatment technology, treated corn seeds provide the equivalent of 30-50 lbs/acre of nitrogen through biological nitrogen fixation. The company is creating second generation microbes that target doubling the amount of nitrogen provided by the Microprime seeds. Andes is also developing microbial strains for nature-based permanent carbon capture into the soil. Initially, this will be focused on microbial-powered corn crops.
Andes will use part of the funds to scale its self-sustaining, nitrogen-fixing seeds across the U.S. market and expand into South America. The balance of funding will be invested to advance further research and development into Andes’ complementary nature-based permanent carbon capture technology.
Last month, Leaps by Bayer announced a $45 million investment in Sound Agriculture, Emeryville, Calif., which has two technology platforms, one of which allows crops to access more nutrients from the existing microbiome and reduces synthetic nitrogen use, and another that accelerates plant trait development (GM Aug. 20, p. 1).
Bayer is also involved as a joint venture partner with Ginkgo Bioworks, Boston, in another microbial developer and researcher, Joyn Bio, Boston.