Pivot Bio secured $70 million in a Series B funding round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and included Singapore-headquartered investment company Temasek.
The company plans to use the funds to strengthen Pivot Bio’s 2019 commercial launch of the first and only nitrogen-producing microbes for U.S. corn farmers, Pivot Bio PROVENTM. This product is designed to supply a clean alternative to synthetic nitrogen to the crop each day. The new funding will also be used to support expanded research and development for the company’s second-generation product – a seed treatment option – as well as product introductions in Brazil, Argentina, and Canada. Within the company’s pipeline, Pivot Bio is developing nitrogen-producing microbes for other crops beyond corn, including wheat and rice.
The company received early support from Series A investor co-leads DCVC (Data Collective) and Monsanto Growth Ventures, as well as Prelude Ventures and Spruce Capital Partners, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Pivot Bio was recently named to Forbes’ Most Innovative AgTech Startups list, and was the recipient of two Business Intelligence Group awards: Sustainability Leadership and the Sustainability Product of the Year.