A SCOTTISH company that specialises in environmentally-friendly insecticides is expanding and creating 25 jobs after securing £4 million in a new funding round.
Glasgow-based Solasta Bio said it will use the funding to scale up its UK and US operations, expand its technical and commercial teams, accelerate the development of its technology platform and target new markets.
Shireen Davies, Solasta Bio chief executive, said: “With the issue of food security and effective crop protection becoming an increasingly pressing issue for the agriculture industry and governments worldwide, there is an urgent need for sustainable environmentally-friendly alternatives to current synthetic pesticides. We’re confident that our technology provides the solution and has the potential to make a huge impact.”
The funding round was led by Yield Lab Europe, a venture capital fund which invests in early stage European companies specialising in technology for sustainable food and agriculture systems.
Other investors include Rubio Impact Ventures, a Netherlands-based venture fund; Scottish Enterprise, Scotland's national economic development agency, and Cavallo Ventures, a venture capital firm based in San Francisco.
SIS Ventures, a subsidiary of Social Investment Scotland, which supports social enterprises, and the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund, an early-stage investment fund backed by the UK government, also invested in the round alongside several private investors in the ‘agritech’ – agricultural technology – sector.
Solasta Bio said its pesticides are inspired by nature “rather than selected from a synthetic chemistry library” and are the first of their kind to be developed worldwide.
“These products effectively target insect pests while preserving beneficial pollinators such as bees in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner,” the company said.
This latest round brings the total raised by Solasta Bio to £5.5 million.
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