Startup that produces sustainable alternate options to pesticides receives a contribution of R$ 10 million

For investors, biotech will revolutionize agribusiness, with products that bring production gains and, at the same time, drastically reduce damage to the environment

The search for more sustainable solutions for the agribusiness has always interested researchers Rafael de Souza and Jader Armanhi. For 12 years, they have been working on the study of Brazilian microorganisms capable of increasing agricultural productivity in a sustainable way and with less environmental impact. In 2021, they founded the startup Symbiomics to commercialize products made with microorganisms with potential technological application.

This Friday, the 27th, biotech announces the raising of R$ 10 million. The MOV and Baraúna Venture Capital funds participated in the first investment round.

“Symbiomics proposes to create solutions to solve one of the biggest current challenges in agriculture, which is increase productivity sustainably, generating less environmental impact. The company’s proposal is to develop new generation biological products, containing new microorganisms and disruptive technologies. The funds raised will leverage the development of these solutions”, says CEO Rafael de Souza.

According to the MOVmanager of social and environmental impact investment funds and one of the investors, the sustainable increase in food production to meet the urgent demands of a growing population is among the most important challenges of the next decade.

“Biological inputs have excellent potential to improve crop yields, replace synthetic fertilizers, fight diseases and pests, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to capturing carbon from the environment”, says CEO Martin Mitteldorf.

To the Baraúna Venture Capitalanother investor, the expectation is that Symbiomics will consolidate itself as one of the main references in sciences applied to agribusiness.

“Symbiomics is able to combine a series of technical knowledge and academic training with business vision and management capacity. The adoption of this type of product is increasing and we believe this is a very strong and lasting trend as it combines productivity and sustainability”, says Paulo Ciampolini, CEO of Baraúna.

What does Symbiomics do?

Founded in 2021, the company develops high-performance products for increase agricultural productivity sustainably and with less environmental impact. The products contain microorganisms used for multiple applications, such as plant nutrition, biocontrol, carbon sequestration and biostimulant.

Among the main products developed by Symbiomics are:

• Biofertilizers
• Biostimulants
• Biocontrol
• carbon sequestration

The company’s Research & Development department works with the most advanced in the market in genomics, microbiome and data analysis to increase the productivity of agricultural crops by various means, such as biofertilization, increased resilience to environmental stresses and biological control.

Symbiomics explores the Brazil’s natural environments looking for microorganisms with potential technological application.

“The microorganisms in these environments have enormous potential for use as biofertilizers, biostimulants and biocontrol. THE amazonfor example, is extremely rich in biodiversity, particularly microbial, and will certainly be able to provide microorganisms that corroborate the thesis and generate distribution of local wealth and jobs”, says Jaderson Armanhi, COO of biotech.

Nature-Based Solutions were pointed out by UN climate summit as one of the nine priority strategies to face climate change and a defensible future for the next generations.

In February 2022, Symbiomics received a contribution from Vesper Ventures in a pre-seed round.

“Because it is a project that addresses a global challenge that could have a great positive impact on our society and the world, we continued”, says Gabriel Bottós, CEO of Vesper.

According to him, Symbiomics will also bring a true revolution for cropswith products that bring significant gains in production and, at the same time, drastically reduce the damage caused to the environment.

How the contribution will be used

With the contribution, biotech has the perspective of, in two months, opening its own laboratory in Florianópolis.

In addition, through genetic sequencing, machine learning and genomic editing, biotech intends to develop products that can be sold globally, such as biofertilizers and biostimulants, as well as biocontrol and carbon capture solutions. The company is already negotiating product licensing with multinationals operating in Brazil, Latin America, Europe and the United States.

Source: Exam