Bill Gates on board at Ghent-based biotech firm Aphea.Bio
Aphea.Bio – a leading biotech firm and sustainable crop protection specialist from Flanders – has completed a Series C funding round. The outcome? The Ghent-based company raised an impressive EUR 70 million to solidify its expansion in biological product development for sustainable agriculture. With the new funding, Aphea.Bio aims to advance R&D in biologicals, scale product launches and expand its market reach to offer innovative agricultural solutions worldwide.
Addressing urgent agricultural challenges
Aphea.Bio’s recent Series C funding round was led by Innovation Industries, with participation from Korys Investments and support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, SFPIM, BNP Paribas Fortis, as well as returning investors ECBF, Astanor, AIF, and other existing shareholders. It is currently the largest capital round of a growth company in Flanders in 2023.
Of particular significance is Aphea.Bio’s partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which will focus on developing biostimulant products tailored to the unique needs of smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, regions that the foundation prioritizes for agricultural support.
Aphea.Bio possesses several qualities that we actively seek in a company: a world-class team, strong scientific foundations, and promising products that can effectively tackle the significant challenges faced in modern agricultural practices.
Aphea.Bio's ultimate goal of addressing the ever-increasing challenge of supplying the growing world population with sufficient and healthy food, while using less land and pesticides, fully aligns with Korys' investment philosophy.
Catering to the needs of farmers globally
Aphea.Bio – the name refers to the Greek goddess of fertility – was founded in 2017 as a spin-off of VIB, Flanders’ strategic research center for biotech and life sciences. The CEO of Aphea.Bio, Isabel Vercauteren, is enthusiastic about the freshly raised funding, emphasizing its significance in advancing the Ghent-based company’s mission “to enable sustainable, profitable and reliable farming practices.”
Among other things, the new investment round will make it possible for Aphea.Bio to expand its operations and bring its innovative products to a broader market, catering to the needs of farmers globally, while ensuring accessibility and affordability for smallholder farmers in low-income countries.
Exceptional growth
This latest funding round coincides with a period of exceptional growth for Aphea.Bio. The company’s team has grown to include over 50 scientists and industry specialists, and they are expanding their research facilities with a new pilot plant. Additionally, Aphea.Bio has achieved the prestigious Certified B Corporation™ status, acknowledging its commitment to high social and environmental impact standards.
Furthermore, the company has made significant strides in its product portfolio. The recent successful launch of ΛCTIV by Aphea.Bio®, a groundbreaking biostimulant seed treatment, marked Aphea.Bio’s entry into the market. Looking forward, the company is actively preparing for the launch of its very first maize biostimulant in 2024 and plans to submit its first biofungicide for regulatory approval in the US and Europe in the first and third quarters of 2024, respectively.
Embedded in Flanders’ life sciences & health ecosystem
Aphea.Bio is just one of the many innovative companies that make Flanders’ business and research ecosystem for life sciences & health so successful. Want to unravel this ecosystem in a virtual yet interactive way? Head to the Flanders360 platform and discover 300+ successful companies, universities, R&D centers, incubators and other players active in Flanders’ life sciences & health industry.
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Reported by
newspaper De Tijd
