Micropep Technologies (Micropep), the global leader in micropeptide technology, announced a $29 million Series B funding round along with its proprietary discovery platform, Krisalix. The round was led by Zebra Impact Ventures, and BPI Green Tech Investment. All existing investors, Fall Line Capital, FMC Ventures, Sofinnova Partners, Supernova Invest, and IRDI Capital Investissement also participated, bringing the company’s total funding to more than $51.8 million.
Micropep plans to use the Series B funding to accelerate go-to-market strategy through partnerships, complete the regulatory studies of the first biofungicide molecule, and expand its pipeline of micropeptide active ingredients on the Krisalix™ platform.
Investor Support
“Micropep’s pioneering micropeptide technology holds immense promise for revolutionizing agriculture sustainably,” said Lionel Artusio, General Partner, Zebra Impact Ventures. “By backing the Micropep team, we’re excited to contribute to the growth of Micropep as a leader in nature-inspired agricultural innovation, fostering a healthier planet for future generations.”
“At Fall Line, we are thrilled to reinvest in Micropep at this pivotal stage,” said Baptiste Tellier, Managing Director of Fall Line Capital. “Micropep is strategically positioned to pioneer new, environmentally safe crop protection products. Our renewed investment is driven by the impressive strides the company has made over the past few years. Notably, Micropep has maintained the field efficacy of its micropeptides while reducing doses in field trials and lowering biomanufacturing costs. The integration of advanced generative artificial intelligence tools into its discovery platform has also significantly shortened design turnaround time. These remarkable achievements underscore the tremendous potential of Micropep.”
Micropep’s Proprietary Discovery Platform
Micropep unveils its proprietary discovery platform, Krisalix, along with this round of funding. Krisalix enables the company to discover new micropeptide-based active ingredients much faster and more efficiently than traditional methods. Finding the correct micropeptide sequence for a given function is not easy. Turning it into an efficient and affordable product that farmers can use is even more complicated. Krisalix combines proprietary micropeptide design algorithms with a unique suite of bioassays to measure efficacy, stability, and production feasibility. Together, these capabilities enable Micropep to rapidly discover the most promising micropeptide molecules for crop protection.
“This new round of funding, happening in a particularly complex financing environment, is a great mark of recognition of both the exceptional results we achieved so far at Micropep and the future potential of our micropeptide discovery platform and first active ingredients,” said Thomas Laurent, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Micropep. “We are pleased to welcome on board Zebra Impact Ventures and BPI Green Tech Investment to help us deliver on our mission to build more sustainable agriculture to protect global food production for future generations.”
Strategic Partnerships and Future Growth
“Micropeptides have a unique value proposition, combining new modes of actions, strong efficacy in the field, great safety profile, and affordable costs for farmers,” Laurent continued. “We are uniquely positioned to provide a whole new category of sustainable active ingredients based on micropeptides to the crop protection industry, working hand-in-hand with selected partners at different stages of the product development lifecycle. This new round of financing will help us strengthen our existing relationships and build new strategic alliances with leading R&D, manufacturing, commercial, and distribution companies in our industry. We believe this is the only sustainable way to scale a company like ours and bring our micropeptide active ingredients to as many farmers as possible worldwide.”
SOURCE: Businesswire