The Belgium-based company AgroSavfe has raised a Series C round of €35M to develop an environmentally friendly crop pesticide inspired by llama antibodies.
AgroSavfe will use the funds to develop and manufacture its lead protein fungicide on a commercial scale. The company aims to get approval from the US Environmental Protection Agency and launch the pesticide in the US by 2022.
AgroSavfe’s pesticides are proteins inspired by llama antibodies. These proteins can be engineered to target fungal crop diseases such as the wine grape fungus Botrytis cinerea without harming benign organisms, making the pesticides an environmentally friendly alternative to chemical treatments. According to field trials, combining AgroSavfe’s lead fungicide with traditional treatments of strawberry crops reduced losses by 70% and also cut chemical pollution by 40%.