Boragen Inc., an agtech startup accelerated within Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based AgTech Accelerator, raised $10m in Series A financing.
Backers included Alexandria Venture Investments, ARCH Venture Partners, Bayer, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Elanco Animal Health, Flagship Pioneering, Hatteras Venture Partners, Mountain Group Capital, Pappas Capital and Syngenta Ventures.
Established in 2017 and led by AgTech Accelerator CEO John W. Dombrosky, Boragen develops a novel synthetic chemistry platform, initially focusing on fungicides aimed to mitigate pest resistance and allow for more sustainable farming methods.
The company’s platform is based on technology developed by researchers Stephen J. Benkovic, Ph.D., and C. Tony Liu, Ph.D., and licensed from The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), to mitigate fungicide resistance and reduce the overall amount of chemicals applied per acre.
The board of Boragen’s is comprised of synthetic chemists and experts in fungal genetics and molecular biology, as well as entrepreneurs with management experience:
– Stephen J. Benkovic, Ph.D., Evan Pugh University professor and Eberly chair in chemistry, Penn State University; awarded National Medal of Science by President Obama
– Kristina Burow, managing director, ARCH Venture Partners
– Joel S. Marcus, co-founder and chairman, AgTech Accelerator; chairman, CEO and founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. and Alexandria Venture Investments
– Paul Schimmel, Ph.D., professor, department of cell and molecular biology, The Scripps Research Institute; MacArthur professor emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
FinSMEs
02/03/2017