Inocucor Technologies tops up Series A round with $6 mln

Inocucor Technologies Inc, a developer of sustainable microbial crop accelerators, has raised an additional $6 million for its Series A funding. The total amount raised was not disclosed. Cycle Capital Management and Desjardins Innovatech, previously identified as the round’s Canadian investors, were joined by U.S.-based Red Metal Capital and Closed Loop Capital, as well as a number of board members. Montréal-based Inocucor said the funds raised will back the commercial scale-up of its bio-stimulant product, Garden Solution, which is designed to improve crop yields. Founded in 2007, the company said it is planning for a follow-on round to open an office in the United States.

PRESS RELEASE

Inocucor Technologies Closes Extended Series A Financing at $6 Million

Investments from Cycle Capital Management, Desjardins Innovatech, Red Metal Capital, Closed Loop Capital and board members will fund commercial scale-up of Inocucor’s sustainable accelerators for sales and new field trials.

MONTREAL, June 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Inocucor Technologies Inc. (www.inocucor.com), the Montreal-based developer of sustainable microbial crop accelerators, announced it has raised an additional $6 million in an extended Series A financing with participation from two Canadian and two U.S.-based early-stage venture capital/family office investors and from board members.

Cycle Capital Management (www.cyclecapital.com), a Montreal Cleantech venture capital fund and early investor in Inocucor, was joined in the funding by Desjardins Innovatech (www.desjardins.com), Canada’s leading cooperative financial group with more than $200 billion in assets; Red Metal Capital (www.dormangroupofcompanies.com), a Michigan-based family office fund; and Closed Loop Capital (www.closedloopcapital.com), an early-stage agriculture technology and food system innovation fund based in greater Philadelphia.

The investment will finance the commercial scale-up of Inocucor’s patented first-in-class bio-stimulant product, Garden Solution®, which is produced through fermentation akin to winemaking. Inocucor’s patented technology enables it to isolate and combine multiple strains of naturally occurring yeasts and bacteria into powerful bio-stimulants that increase the microbial diversity of soils and speed delivery of nutrients to plants, thereby improving crop yields.

“Our business model calls for a range of bio-based products that ultimately will help farmers feed a growing population with fewer or no chemical inputs,” said Donald R. Marvin, president and CEO of Inocucor.

Marvin said Inocucor’s growth strategy is focused on establishing commercial partnerships that include its intellectual property as a key ingredient for new bio-stimulation, bio-fertility and bio-protection products for large-scale production farmers. It also plans to make strategic acquisitions that will hasten the commercialization of its proprietary microbial consortia technology and broaden its product pipeline.

Garden Solution, OMRI Listed® for organic production, is approved for sale in 27 U.S. states. It is currently in use by farmers and greenhouse growers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Virginia. Marvin said Garden Solution’s full registration in California, one of the world’s largest agricultural economies, is imminent.

Recent field trials employing Inocucor’s first- and second-generation sustainable biological accelerators with leading industry and academic partners in Canada and the U.S. have produced significant yield increases in high-value produce and row crops.

In June, the company will launch a follow-on equity financing round to support opening a U.S. office to better serve its commercial partners and customers. Inocucor will also expand large-scale field trials and commercialization activities in North and South America for its second- and third-generation cell-free biological formulations for bio-stimulation, proprietary new biological entities and active compounds for bio-fertility and bio-protection.

Contact: Michele Wells, Wells Communications, 303-417-0696; mwells@wellscommunications.net

Photo courtesy of Inocucor Technologies Inc