Agrivida closes $23m Series D round led by Cultivian Sandbox Ventures

Agrivida, a US company developing enzyme solutions for the animal nutrition market, has closed a $23 million series D financing led by food and agri venture firm Cultivian Sandbox.

The company, which is also backed by chemical giant Syngenta, will use the investment to develop and commercialise its proprietary feed additive enzymes and silage technology platforms, according to a statement. The $23 million round, which was oversubscribed, follows a first tranche of $12 million raised in January, also led by Cultivian.

“By using the corn plant as our factory combined with our proprietary technology, we aim to create a compelling value proposition to the producers of meat, milk and eggs to help address the growing global demand for food,” Dan Meagher, chief executie of Agrivida said.

Ron Meeusen, managing director of Cultivian Sandbox said that Agrivida “holds the potential to disrupt this lucrative and growing feed enzyme market”.

Cultivian was joined by ARCH Venture Partners, Middleland Capital, both investing in the company for the first time as well as other existing investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, DAG Ventures, Bright Capital Partners, Gentry Venture Partners, Northgate Capital and PrairieGold Venture Partners.

Agrivida is developing integrated enzyme solutions for the animal nutrition as well as health, energy and consumer products industries.

Bright Capital Partners led the previous $15m series C round in 2012 which also featured Syngenta Ventures and Presidio Ventures, the venture capital arm of Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation.

Agrivida began its journey in 2004 when it raised seed funding from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. It went on to raise $600,000 in a series A financing in 2006.

The company is targeting 2016 for commercialisation of its first products.