May 26, 2021

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

Ninety percent of the fertilizer used today – a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions – remains synthetic. Not only harmful to the atmosphere, these synthetic fertilizers also have detrimental effects on local water supplies and environments.

However, “Consumer concerns over food provenance and safety – where food comes from and how its produced (i.e. organic, non-GMO, sustainable production methods, etc.) – has emerged as a major trend…” noted Philippe de Lapérouse and Mark Zavodnyik of HighQuest Consulting.

Consumer pressure combined with new laws and regulations limiting nitrogen runoff or capping emissions, for instance, will be placing agricultural producers in the position of needing to adapt to new production practices. 

As a result, the biologicals market, including biofertilizers, biopesticides, and biostimulants, are commanding a growing share of the market. According to a report released by ResearchandMarkets.com last year, the agricultural biologicals market is estimated to have had a value of USD $6.75 billion in 2017, and is projected to reach USD $12.86 billion by 2022, which translates to a compound annual growth rate of nearly 14 percent.

Projecting even further out, Markets and Markets Research estimated that the global biologicals market will continue to see a CAGR of 13.6 percent to climb from a value of $8.8 billion in 2019 to $18.9 billion in five years. 

Positioned to capitalize upon this growth is Kula Bio, a leader in sustainable nitrogen solutions that announced it has secured $10 million in Seed funding led by Collaborative Fund, with participation from The Nature Conservancy, Lowercarbon Capital, and the Grantham Environmental Trust’s Neglected Climate Opportunities Fund.

Other investors in the round include BOPU, Box Group, Decent Capital, AgFunder, Embark Ventures, iSelect Fund, and Pillar VC. 

“Kula Bio has created a breakthrough solution for the agricultural sector,” said Craig Shapiro, founder and managing partner, Collaborative Fund. “Kula-N improves upon traditional fertilizers by improving soil health and creating a cost-effective, environmentally friendly solution for farmers.”

Founded In 2018, Kula Bio is the maker of Kula-N, a next-generation nitrogen biofertilizer that maintains yields while significantly reducing the environmental impact of traditional synthetic fertilizers.

Applied via irrigation, Kula-N boosts a naturally occurring process of biological nitrogen fixation based on a patent-protected method derived from peer reviewed research performed at Harvard University.

Since its inception, Kula Bio has conducted a series of third-party replicated field trials across a diverse range of geographies, soil types, and crops, proving that Kula-N can replace as much as 80 percent of a farm’s nitrogen use.

“At Kula Bio we’re proud to be backed by investors who truly believe in and share our mission,” said Bill Brady, founding CEO and director, Kula Bio. “With this support, we have initiated key hires focused on operations, sales, marketing, agronomy, and research & development. Additionally, we’re in the process of developing our first pilot manufacturing site. We are intensifying our efforts to get our product to more hardworking farmers and continue to push the agricultural industry to a more sustainable future.”

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.