Solasta Bio–SEVERAL: investment, 202409 financing round Series A $14m led by Forbion BioEconomy Fund

	Period	2024-09-11
	Money taker	Solasta Bio Ltd.
	Money source	SEVERAL
	Product	insecticide
	Product 2	venture capital
	Person	Faucher, Joy (Forbion 2023– Partner)
	Person 2	Hoffmann, Alexander (Alex) (Forbion 2023– General Partner before M Ventures)

Forbion Capital Partners. (9/11/24). "Press Release: Forbion Leads $14m Series A in Solasta Bio to Advance Development and Commercialisation of First-in-class Sustainable Crop Protection Solutions". Naarden.

> Oversubscribed financing round led by Forbion’s BioEconomy fund strategy, which focusses on biotech companies that address planetary health challenges

> Proceeds will advance SOLASTA Bio’s nature-inspired insecticides with first market entry targeted for 2027, half the time of synthetically produced insecticides demonstrating the advantage of its platform technology

> Joy Faucher, Partner at Forbion to join SOLASTA Bio Board of Directors with Alex Hoffmann, General Partner at Forbion appointed as Board Observer

Forbion, a leading global life sciences venture capital firm with deep expertise in Europe, today announced it has led the $14m Series A Financing of SOLASTA Bio, a leading agri-biotech company specialising in the next generation of green insecticides. This oversubscribed financing will accelerate development and commercialisation of SOLASTA’s unique peptide-based, nature-inspired bioinsecticides – the first of its kind to be developed worldwide.

The financing was led by Forbion via its BioEconomy fund strategy, with co-lead investment from agricultural strategics FMC Ventures (FMC Corporation) and Corteva Catalyst (Corteva, Inc.). Participation from existing investors included Cavallo Ventures (Wilbur-Ellis), Rubio Impact Ventures, Scottish Enterprise, UKi2S, SIS Ventures and University of Glasgow, bringing the total raised to date to $19 million. Forbion Partner Joy Faucher, who leads the BioEconomy strategy, will join the company’s board of directors.

Founded in 2021 by academic co-founders Shireen Davies, CEO and Prof. Julian Dow, CSO, Glasgow-based SOLASTA Bio has developed the world's first technology platform for creating insect control agents that are nature-inspired rather than selected from a synthetic chemistry library. As well as meeting the efficacy standards of current chemicals on the market, these environmentally friendly agents address a growing global need for effective crop protection by selectively targeting insect pests while protecting beneficial pollinators such as bees. SOLASTA Bio’s platform can be mobilised for any pest of interest, across both crop and non-crop applications such as stored grain.
This Series A funding follows a successful 2023 trial season where SOLASTA Bio’s unique insect control agents demonstrated efficacy on par, or better than, commercial standards across over 20 field trials on multiple crops in Europe, the UK and US.

Joy Faucher, Partner at Forbion for its BioEconomy Fund noted, “As traditional insect control agents struggle with resistance and impact to biodiversity, SOLASTA’s demonstrated cost-effective, sustainable and high-efficacy solution is poised to transform the crop protection market. We are excited to support SOLASTA in continuing the development and commercialisation of its first-in-class peptide products.”

“We have come a long way since setting out on this journey 3 years ago. We have developed our unique technology platform to address grower pain points, have expanded operations to the US and have brough together outstanding competencies in technology and agribusiness. The results of our field trials have been hugely encouraging, demonstrating high efficacy of biopeptides against target insect pests, as effective or better than standard insecticides” said Shireen Davies PhD, FRSE, CEO and co-founder, SOLASTA Bio. “With the Series A, it’s time for SOLASTA Bio to kick on to the next level and successfully hit our targets for commercialisation.”

With the financing secured, SOLASTA Bio will continue to advance its technology platform and pipeline of insect control agents, targeting a $27bn annual market opportunity¹. In parallel, the business will continue to build out its US operations, having already established a base in North Carolina, expand its real-world field trials across key geographies, scale-up its biomanufacturing capabilities and further develop strategic opportunities including applications beyond crop use.
The company is targeting market entry as early as 2027 – at least half the time traditionally taken by synthetic pest control products - demonstrating a significant advantage of the platform technology.
With the urgent need to protect pollinators and wildlife, while boosting agricultural productivity, SOLASTA Bio aims to play a leading role in the transition toward sustainable crop protection. The global insecticides market is currently dominated by synthetic chemicals accounting for 94% of insect control solutions¹. While 75% of food crops are dependent on pollinator insects, other insects cause enormous social, health and economic damage accounting for at least $70 billion in US crop losses alone. However, the insecticides market is under increasing pressure from widespread insect resistance, lack of species specificity, increasing regulatory controls and consumer preferences for non-chemical residues.

***ENDS***

For more information, please contact:

Forbion Investor Relations
Email: Robbert.van.de.Griendt@forbion.com
General Partner IR & Impact

Forbion Communications
Email: laura.asbjornsen@forbion.com
Head of Communications

Notes to editors:

1. Verified Market Research: Global Insecticides Market Size By Type (Organophosphate, Carbamates), By End-User (Agriculture, Medicine), By Geographic Scope And Forecast Report ID: 22453

About Forbion

Forbion is a leading global venture capital firm with deep expertise in Europe and offices in Naarden, The Netherlands, Munich, Germany and Boston, USA. Forbion invests in innovative biotech companies, managing €3.2 billion across multiple fund strategies that cover all stages of (bio-) pharmaceutical drug development. In addition, Forbion leverages its biotech expertise beyond human health to address ‘planetary health’ challenges through its BioEconomy fund strategy, which invests in companies developing sustainable solutions in food, agriculture, materials, and environmental technologies. Forbion’s team consists of over 30 investment professionals that have built an impressive performance track record since the late nineties with investments in over 110 companies across 9 funds. Forbion’s record of sourcing, building and guiding life sciences companies has resulted in many approved breakthrough therapies and valuable exits. Forbion typically selects impactful investments that will positively affect the health and well-being of people and the planet, as well as meet its financial return objectives. The firm is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. Forbion operates a joint venture with BGV, the manager of seed and early-stage funds, especially focused on Benelux and Germany.

About SOLASTA Bio

SOLASTA Bio is a leading green agri-biotechnology company based in Glasgow, Scotland. Blending deep scientific expertise with extensive research and agri sector experience, SOLASTA BIO designs and develops next-generation biotechnology solutions that give growers and agri-businesses access to precision-targeted pest control capabilities – to help target and solve global pest-related challenges across a broad range of applications. Its innovative pest control solutions are effective, cost-efficient and environmentally friendly – with biosafety built in. A smarter, safer, simpler alternative to insecticides, they use precision-targeting to only clear selected insects from crops, while being non-toxic to all other species and land.