Boston-based startup Kula Bio has raised $50 million from venture funds to accelerate production of what it calls a “next generation” nitrogen fertilizer that’s designed to be more environmentally friendly than traditional crop inputs.
Kula Bio’s patent-protected fertilizer product, Kula-N, uses bacteria to remove nitrogen from the air and deposit it in soil, helping cut down on the “incredible environmental issue” caused by traditional nitrogen fertilizers, CEO Bill Brady told Bloomberg in an interview.
He said Kula Bio plans to use the funds to build manufacturing facilities near major produce farmers in California and Arizona, and then branch out to growers of row crops such as corn and soybeans. He said the product will be cost competitive to traditional fertilizer, and should be ready for its first customers by year end or early 2023.
Kula Bio was founded in 2018 using research developed at Harvard University. The company said it has run a series of third-party replicated field trials across diverse geographies, soil types, and crops, proving that it can replace up to 80 percent of a farm’s nitrogen use.
“Kula Bio’s drop-in replacement for synthetic fertilizer costs less, yields more, and zeroes out nitrogen runoff,” said Clay Dumas, founding Partner at Lowercarbon Capital. “We’re speeding up their growth to turn the lights out at Haber-Bosch plants.”
Lowercarbon Capital led the $50 million investment round, which included backing from Collaborative Fund, Grantham Trust’s Neglected Climate Opportunities Fund, iSelect Fund, Pillar VC, Embark Ventures, and BOPU.
The Nature Conservancy participated in a $10 million raise in 2021. Other investors in that round included Agfunder, Box Group, and Decent Capital, as well as some of those participating in the most recent round.