Scottish agri-biotech firm SOLASTA Bio has successfully completed an oversubscribed $14 million (£10.7 million) Series A funding round. The funding will accelerate the development of its nature-inspired, peptide-based bioinsecticides, aimed at offering sustainable pest control solutions.
The investment round was led by Forbion via its BioEconomy fund strategy, with co-lead investment from agricultural strategics FMC Ventures (FMC Corporation) and Corteva Inc., through its Corteva Catalyst platform.
Participation from existing investors included Cavallo Ventures (Wilbur-Ellis), Rubio Impact Ventures, Scottish Enterprise, UKI2S, SIS Ventures, and the University of Glasgow, bringing the total raised to date to $19 million (£14.5m~).
Established in 2021, Glasgow-based SOLASTA Bio has developed what’s been cited as the world’s first technology platform for creating insect control agents that are nature-inspired rather than selected from a synthetic chemistry library.
In addition to meeting the efficacy standards of current chemicals on the market, these environmentally-friendly agents address a growing global need for effective crop protection by selectively targeting insect pests while protecting beneficial pollinators such as bees.
The platform can be mobilised for any pest of interest, across both crop and non-crop applications such as stored grain.
With the investment round secured, the agri-biotech said that it will continue to advance its technology platform and pipeline of insect control agents, targeting a $27bn (£20.6bn~) annual market opportunity.
Further, the business will continue to build out its US operations, expand its real-world field trials across key geographies, scale-up its biomanufacturing capabilities, and further develop strategic opportunities including applications beyond crop use.
SOLASTA Bio is targeting market entry as early as 2027 – at least half the time traditionally taken by synthetic pest control products.
The company is co-founded by CEO Shireen Davies and CSO Professor Julian Dow, and brings together a leadership team of technical and agrochemical industry specialists including Daphne Preuss, Paula Pinto, David Armour, and Rob Wylie.
Speaking on the funding and the journey thus far, Davies commented: “SOLASTA Bio has come a long way since we set out on this journey 3 years ago.
“Having established operations in the UK and US, we’ve now got an international team with outstanding competencies in technology and agribusiness and, importantly, we have developed our unique technology platform to address grower pain points.
“The results of our field trials have been hugely encouraging, demonstrating high efficacy of biopeptides against target insect pests, as effective or better than standard insecticides.
“With Series A now secured, it’s time for SOLASTA Bio to kick on to the next level and successfully hit our targets for commercialisation.”
Joy Faucher, partner at Forbion BioEconomy, also said: “As traditional insect control agents struggle with resistance and impact to biodiversity, SOLASTA is poised to revolutionise the crop protection market at a critical time, with a cost-effective, sustainable and high-efficacy alternative that can be adopted seamlessly by farmers.
“The team’s deep expertise in insect neuropeptide modalities, their differentiated tech platform and proven real-world data provide a unique position to launch a series of first-in-class products that can redefine the agriculture industry.”