California-based startup Pivot Bio has announced it raised $430m in its latest funding round, bringing the company’s total value to nearly $2bn.
The company, which started at the University of California, has been working to develop microbes that can act as replacements for synthetic fertilisers. The microbes are used to create and feed nitrogen to crops such as wheat and corn, and are applied to crops as soon as they’re planted, allowing the microbes to do their work as the crops grow. This is opposed to conventional fertilisers, which have to be applied several times over the growth cycle of the plant.
While nitrogen is crucial for plant survival, the use of copious amounts of synthetic forms of it has proven problematic. According to Pivot Bio, synthetic nitrogen fertiliser is the leading cause of crop-related greenhouse gasses, contributing to 7% of global emissions, as well as having knock-on impacts on the surrounding ecosystems and water supplies due to run-off toxicity.
The latest funding round was led by VC firm DCVC, as well as Singapore-based Temasek Holdings. The investment will reportedly be used to aid the firm’s international expansion, as well as fund investigation into improving the product’s efficacy.
“Pivot Bio exemplifies the power of DeepTech solutions to create equitable and profitable outcomes for all stakeholders in immense industries like agriculture,” said Matt Ocko, Co-Managing Partner of DCVC in a statement. “Farmers are able to grow more crops to feed more people, more cost-effectively, while being even better stewards of their land and water. Societies benefit from both more abundant food and more climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture.”
Pivot Bio estimates its technology could prevent $200bn worth of environmental damage over the next ten years. The company reported its revenue tripled in 2021, with its product now used on over 1 million acres of farmland.
As our global population increases and pressure on food production is anticipated to ramp up, finding sustainable solutions to boosting crop yields has received renewed attention in recent years. According to the Pivot Bio website, by 2050, growers will have to provide 56% more calories to the world as the global population reaches nearly 10 billion. Such a growth will necessarily lead to an increased use of nitrogen – something Pivot hopes to meet in a sustainable way.
