Solasta Bio, a Glasgow-based agritech startup, secured £10.7m to advance its innovative insecticide.
- The company’s peptide-based solution aims to combat pests without harming beneficial insects, such as bees.
- Field trials show Solasta’s product matches or exceeds the efficacy of traditional insecticides.
- The funding was led by Forbion, with contributions from prominent venture capital firms.
- Solasta Bio has raised a total of $19m since its inception in 2021.
Solasta Bio, an agritech startup situated in Glasgow, has successfully raised £10.7m from a concerted funding effort. This capital injection is intended to bolster the development of their pioneering, peptide-based insecticide technology. The startup’s novel solution is lauded for its ‘nature-inspired’ approach that circumvents the need for synthetic chemistry, a method heralded for its environmental benefits as it focuses on eliminating harmful pests while preserving beneficial species such as bees.
According to Shireen Davies, co-founder and CEO of Solasta Bio, the firm has made significant strides since its founding three years ago. “Solasta Bio has come a long way since we set out on this journey 3 years ago,” she asserted. Field trials have shown promising results, demonstrating that the biopeptides exhibit high efficacy against targeted insect pests, proving to be as or more effective than conventional insecticides currently in use.
This financial round was spearheaded by the Dutch venture capital firm Forbion, through its BioEconomy fund, and was joined by FMC Ventures and Corteva. Joy Faucher, Forbion BioEconomy partner, noted the startup’s positioning in revolutionising the crop protection market at a time when traditional insecticides are facing challenges related to resistance and biodiversity impacts. “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,” Faucher commented.
Additional financial support came from Cavallo Ventures, Rubio Impact Ventures, Scottish Enterprise, UKi2S, SIS Ventures, and the University of Glasgow. Cumulatively, Solasta Bio has succeeded in amassing a total of $19m since its establishment in 2021. In the recent past, the startup secured an additional £4m funding round in April 2023.
The funding marks a pivotal step in Solasta Bio’s mission to revolutionise pest control with environmentally friendly solutions.
