WeedOUT, Start-up Fighting Resistant Weeds, Secured $8.1 Million Round A
WeedOUT’s solution could solve one of the greatest threats to agriculture and food security: herbicide-resistant weeds
Ag-tech start-up WeedOUT announces it has secured USD 8.1 million in A-round funding. Leading the round is Fulcrum Global Capital, a prominent US agri- focused VC with ties to a vast network of farmers across the US. Other participants in the equity round include Bunge Ventures, the investment arm of the leading agriculture and food company Bunge (NYSE: BG), and the Singapore Headquartered agrifood tech fund Clay Capital (formerly VisVires New Protein, VVNP).
WeedOUT’s solution could solve one of the greatest threats to agriculture and food security: herbicide-resistant weeds. The company created a novel and environmentally conscious approach to significantly curbing proliferation of weeds that no longer respond to commonly used chemical herbicides.
WeedOUT’s novel technology is based on the development of a unique proprietary weed pollen, which is applied during weed flowering period via artificial pollination to prevent the generation of viable resistant weed seeds. Its main characteristics include:
- New mechanism of action for weed control that is orthogonal to all currently available solutions
- Green, non-toxic, biologically based solution to outcompete naturally occurring pollen and to inhibit soil seed bank replenishment
- Mimicks the weed’s natural reproduction mechanism, therefore provides a long-lasting solution with very low chances of resistant development
- Faster and less expensive regulatory path
- Designed to target only the weed and not the crop
- Cost effective solution
- Can be easily adapted and improve existing Integrated Weed Management programs
- By blocking resistance spreading can prolong the use of current herbicide products and preserve their market
“Weeds are highly competitive, aggressive plants,” explains Efrat Lidor Nili, PhD, co-founder and co-CEO of WeedOUT. “They compete with crops for all essential resources, including soil, water, nutrients—and even sunlight. Weeds substantially reduce crop yield.”
Their first product is aimed against Palmer Amaranth, ranked as the most troublesome weed in the U.S, according to surveys published by the Weed Science Society of America. It is also a major nuisance in Brazil and Argentina. The weed can grow up to several meters high and invade fields of corn, cotton, soybeans, and sugar beets. It can crash corn crop yield by 90% and soybean yield by 80%. “Our green solution specifically targets this type of resistant weed,” notes Lidor Nili.
Funds raised in this investment round are being channeled to further expand field trials in multiple regions in the U.S.
