USA丨Agtech startup Vestaron raises another $10M, new investor

Agtech startup Vestaron, which aims to prove its biological-based pesticides don’t trade efficacy for safety vs. chemical products, has added another $10 million to its warchest.

The company recently closed on an $82 million round of capital in a Series C round, and on Thursday announced it had added another $10 million from investor Grosvenor Food & AgTech.

The company recently won approval to sell its biopesticide in Mexico and is seeking FDA approval for a second line of products.

Vestaron develops biopesticides that target the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor of the insect’s nervous system.

Vestaron products

Other investors include Ordway Selections, Cavallo Ventures, Argonautic Ventures, Fortistar, Endeavor8, Novo Holdings, Northpond Ventures, CGC Ventures, iSelect and Syngenta Ventures.

“The additional funding will enable Vestaron to accelerate the development of its product pipeline, consisting of additional peptide empowered solutions, each with a novel mode of action,” the company said in an announcement. “These offerings will change the approach to integrated pest management strategies by providing a portfolio of powerful and rotatable solutions for growers to overcome pesticide resistance without sacrificing performance or safety – emPOWERED by peptides for the sustainability of farms, farmers and the planet.  This funding will also fuel Vestaron’s expansion from specialty fruit, vegetable and nut crops into broad acre row crops and into new insect pest categories.”

Monty Bayer of Grosvenor Food & AgTech added: “The future of global food systems depends on the ability of growers to successfully grow and profitably sell their crops, and we’re excited to invest in Vestaron’s sustainable, people- and pollinator-friendly pesticides that can vastly reduce the $70B in crop losses now faced by growers each year.”