AgBiome Space for Lease
AgBiome Space for Lease
Room to Grow
THE RESEARCH TRIANGLE REGION HAS GREENHOUSE AND LAB SPACE TO SPARE.
AgBiome in Research Triangle Park is offering a tremendous opportunity to lease their greenhouse and lab space to potential candidates. Whether you’re looking for a new greenhouse home or if you’re looking to expand your footprint, our lease rates are competitive. Don’t let this rare opportunity pass you by.
WHERE:
104 T. W. Alexander Drive Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
WHAT:
Building 1: Approx 25,000 sq ft, mixed office/lab space + 5,300 sq ft greenhouse; recent build with attached greenhouse, no other space like it in the area.
Listed below market rates for equivalent space.
Building 18: Approx 9,000 sq ft, mixed office/lab space; well maintained, functional lab and office space ideal for an early stage startup with lease costs set below any other options in the area.
WHO:
Reach out to Paul Polanowski (ppolanowski@agbiome.com) for more information on how to lease.
[Event] NU Tech Roundtable 2024
Goals
The Technology Roundtable Series aims (1) to highlight some of the many innovative cutting-edge research technologies with promising commercial potential from NU and participating universities, and (2) to strengthen ties and networks among university and industry researchers, startups, and business development professionals from major and local companies.
Background
The NU Tech Technology Roundtable Series is a joint technology marketing effort by Nagoya University (NU) and its US technology transfer office, Technology Partnership of Nagoya University, Inc. (NU Tech), in cooperation with prestigious universities in RTP. The first Roundtable commenced in 2010. The Roundtable 2024 focuses on Sustainable AgBioTech.
North Carolina is Sowing Seeds of Success for AgTech Startups
There is a powerful competitive advantage for AgTech startups located in North Carolina (NC), with the key determinant of success being proximity to a healthy ecosystem that provides access to talent, patient capital, entrepreneurial development, and existing market opportunities in the context of a supportive and committed legislature. It is by no accident that NC is one of the most fertile AgTech startup ecosystems in the world; the state’s government in collaboration with some of the top research and agriculture institutions in the US, alongside the world’s largest agricultural companies, have worked diligently to leverage the human and natural capital abundant in the region. Agribusiness is the number one industry in NC, contributing in excess of $100B last year towards the state’s economy [1]. As such, NC is one of the top agricultural producers in the US through its broadly diverse offerings, including hogs and poultry, sweet potatoes, tobacco, soybean and Christmas trees. For the second year in a row, NC is ranked as the #1 state for business in the US [2], scoring highest in the nation for its workforce and near the top of the list in the areas of the economy, technology, innovation, and education, bolstered by a business-friendly corporate tax rate currently at 2.5% that will be eliminated by 2030 [3].
Indeed, NC is now a global powerhouse in the AgTech innovation space, showcasing Research Triangle Park (RTP), which places in the top 10 Global AgTech & New Food Startup Ecosystems [4] lauded for its knowledge base, startup experience, talent, and performance. In 1959, a public-university-industry collaborative effort to leverage the state’s rich farming heritage and large talent pool, resulted in the formation of the RTP in Durham, currently the largest high-tech research and development park in the US [5], that coalesced into a force of attraction drawing in the world’s largest agricultural corporations – the first step in anchoring and driving the development of the AgTech ecosystem in NC. Ryan Combs, Executive Director of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership (RTRP), champions Central North Carolina and the surrounding region, “Being the best comes naturally to us. The Research Triangle Region is not only where innovation is made, it’s where innovation is put to work.”
Since 1960, NC has been home, at one time or other, to the world’s largest agricultural companies including BASF, Syngenta, Novozymes, Bayer, Monsanto, UPL, Corteva (DuPont), ADAMA, NuFarm Americas, Verdesian, Plant Health Care and Mosaic Biotech, in large part the result of the preeminent US example of a state-led recruitment effort to attract high-tech companies. This laid the foundation for a powerful business platform on which nearly 200 AgTech and new food sector companies currently operating in NC have built their successes. Some of these successes include Pairwise (CRISPR crop-editing), Oerth Bio (targeted protein degradation), 5Metis (crop protection), Vestaron (crop protection), AgEye (AI sensor), Elo Life Systems (plant gene editing), TARGAN (livestock vaccination), SinnovaTek (food processing), Advanced Animal Diagnostics (AAD–livestock diagnostics). BioResource International (livestock feed additives), Greenlight Biosciences (RNA products), Iluma Alliance (animal nutrition), Tiamat Sciences (plant-based proteins) and Believer Meat (cultivated meat).
Access to world-class academic institutions, including NC State, UNC, Duke, and NC A&T, and a well-developed pool of agricultural industry-savvy talent and world-class tech development is widely recognized as one of the region’s greatest strengths. The N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative (N.C. PSI), which opened recently on the NC State campus, is a public-private partnership specifically formed to create opportunities to continue to grow NC’s thriving agricultural industry into a global leader. The Initiative is striving to become the world’s premier plant sciences enterprise through collaboration in- and across-disciplines within the academic, public and industrial ecosystem. “We live in a diverse agricultural state with a robust community of university and industry leaders.” said Dr. Adrian Percy, Executive Director of the N.C. PSI. “Our initiative leverages the strengths of experts across our network both in the field and in the lab to create plant science solutions.”
AgTech startups in NC are supported by accelerators and incubators, mentor programs and successful entrepreneurs, home-grown and organized networks, and state-sponsored public-private organizations, but we can do more. One of the strongest indicators of a mature startup ecosystem is the depth of this support and one of the strongest drivers is the density of startups [6]. The North Carolina Biotechnology Center (NCBiotech) serves as the state’s vanguard for the recruitment of AgTech companies and works to merge the interests of the academic, private, and public sectors. Dr. Paul Ulanch, Senior Director, Focused Initiatives at NCBiotech outlines the focus on support for AgTech startups in the region “The North Carolina Biotechnology Center has supported crop science and animal health innovation since being formed almost 40 years ago. However, in 2010 the center focused on Ag Tech as a specific initiative to leverage existing strengths to further grow this ecosystem. This includes accelerating connectivity of the global Ag Tech community with the NC ecosystem, convening leadership and professionals, and deploying a loan program to support Ag Tech innovators.”
Force-multiplier resources in the region include First Flight Venture Center (FFVCNC) in the heart of RTP which offers incubator programs (FFVCNC-Propeller) to national and international AgTech startups, and the Research Triangle Regional Partnership (RTRP) spearheads the economic development of the core region of NC. Indeed, some of the most significant value for a startup in NC lies in the ecosystem’s ability to enhance and facilitate scale-up. Krista Covey, President and CEO at FFVCNC points out the clear benefit provided by incubators, quoting Tracy Kitts, former COO of the National Business Incubation Association – now the International Business Innovation Association (INBIA) “After five years, businesses that were nurtured in a business incubator have a survival rate of 87%, Kitts said. By comparison, the survival rate for companies that go it alone without the benefits of incubator support is 44%.” Dr. Hortense Dodo, Co-Founder and President of Ingateygen, an AgTech startup at FFVCNC whose mission is to deliver allergen-free peanuts, says “North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park is a gold mine which can help accelerate the upward evolution of any company.” Ingateygen recently moved to the area because of the ecosystem at RTP and Dr. Dodo explains why “The sheer number of brilliant entrepreneurs, investors, leaders, academicians, Medical Doctors etc … creates a unique and vibrant ecosystem in which any motivated entrepreneur can thrive and be successful.”
But nascent companies cannot survive in a vacuum, and AgTech entrepreneurs are more likely to establish startups only if there is a clear pathway to obtain funding. Within the last 5 years, NC has risen to 4th in the US for AgTech investment, and bucked the trend that saw a decline in VC funding of the top 3 most active regions in the US. Between 2021 and 2022 in NC, venture investment saw substantial gains, led by top local venture firms like Alexandria Venture Investments, Oval Park Capital, Leaps by Bayer, KdT Ventures, Middleland Capital, FMC Ventures, and Syngenta Group Ventures. Karen LeVert, President of AgTechInventures and Venture Partner at Pappas Capital, is pleased with the venture activity underway in the region. She states, “We may be the only region in the world with this density of AgTech investors and more funds are preparing to launch soon. We know funding directly impacts new company growth and companies relocating to the region. These are very exciting times!”
NC stretches from the mid-Atlantic Coast to the Blue Ridge Mountains and by virtue of this diverse geography, NC is the 3rd most diverse agricultural producer in the US, behind only Florida and California [7]. Although RTP is the epicenter of AgTech innovation in NC [8], sporting the majority of activity with much of the state’s Ag Tech ecosystem gravitating to the Triangle, NC boasts multiple AgTech hubs, including Kannapolis, Asheville and western NC, and Wilmington and the Blacklands of eastern NC. The North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis houses the David H. Murdock Research Institute, a collaborative effort between 8 universities, as well as companies and entrepreneurs whose focus is on research and development of safer, more nutritious crops, healthier foods and precision nutrition. The campus is also home to the recently opened NC Food Innovation Lab (NCFIL), the only facility in the US with good manufacturing practice capabilities dedicated to supporting plant-based food innovators. Underscoring NC’s presence in the food-processing innovation space, Bühler, one of the world’s largest food processor manufacturers, has chosen Cary, NC as one of their US manufacturing sites because of the legacy of expertise and talent in the region. Thierry Duvanel, Director of Innovation at Buhler Group predicts “We know that our food system will change dramatically in the coming 20 years. Bioprocessing will become the go-to technology to produce the nutrients we need. As a global leader in food processing solutions, Buhler is at the forefront of this transition. Through our presence in the Triangle we can tap into a wealth of expertise in the field, married to a long-standing culture of food production.”
Asheville grew to be the 7th fastest-growing tech hub in the nation last year [9] and being home to NOAA’s Center for Environmental Information, is uniquely primed to attract startups in the climate-smart agriculture arena. Western NC more generally has a unique agricultural footprint, large forestry resources with diverse microclimates and is a nature-based tourist destination brand and market context in which to practice value-added agriculture, and the Blacklands of eastern NC has some of the most productive agricultural soil in the country, thanks to an effort 75 years ago by farmers to transform the Atlantic coastline by draining the cypress swamp there and is one of the premier farm testing regions in the US.
NC is firmly positioned as one of the most impactful AgTech regions in the world. The various elements of the maturing ecosystem continue to work in concert in an engaged and collaborative effort that creates a force multiplier for AgTech startups locating to the area. This deep-rooted farming heritage garners a broad understanding of the agricultural sector’s challenges and needs, and along with NC’s diverse geography, allows for a wide range of agricultural practices from traditional crop farming to specialized horticulture and aquaculture. Ryan Combs at RTRP sums up the region’s strengths and the tenets for the success of an AgTech company: “It’s not just about being the best in the field. You also need to be the best in the lab, the boardroom, the markets, the talent pool, and the cutting edge of agriculture.”
With representation in the state in the subsectors of sustainable and regenerative agriculture, water conservation and weather prediction, automation and CEA, food security and supply chain, agbiotech and crop protection, fin- and insur-tech, nutrition and food processing, livestock and animal health, farm management and precision agriculture, AgTech in NC is growing from strength to strength.
Original Article Source: AgReads
About Authors
Dr. Nick White is a serial entrepreneur and business developer passionate about helping AgTech startups succeed. Andrea Stevenson Conner is a change agent and strategic relationship builder. In her career spanning 4 countries she champions economic empowerment and the ripple effect it creates in communities. She serves the innovation community as the Ecosystem Development Director at the First Flight Venture Center in Research Triangle Park, NC.
Bibliography
[1] “https://ncchamber.com/issue/agriculture-agribusiness/,” [Online].
[2] “https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/11/north-carolina-is-top-state-for-business-led-by-workforce-economy-.html,” [Online].
[4] “https://startupgenome.com/article/global-agtech-and-new-food-ranking-top-25-plus-10-runners-up,” [Online].
[5] “https://www.researchtriangle.org/counties/rtp/,” [Online].
[6] “https://innovation-entrepreneurship.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13731-018-0091-6#Sec7,” [Online].
[8]”https://www.researchtriangle.org/industries/agtech/#:~:text=From%20global%20corporations%20to%20disruptive,in%20the%20Research%20Triangle%20Region.,” [Online].
[9]”https://ventureasheville.com/fastest-growing-tech-hub/#:~:text=LinkedIn%20said%20what%20we’ve,2019%20through%20this%20March%202022.,” [Online].
TARGAN celebrates new Raleigh headquarters
TARGAN, Inc., a biotechnology systems and animal ag-tech company dedicated to improving agriculture through targeted applications of cutting-edge technologies, celebrated the official opening of its new Raleigh-based headquarters. TARGAN is the first company of its kind to be based in the Raleigh city limits.
The event not only marked a significant milestone for TARGAN but also brought attention to the region’s ongoing growth in the life sciences industry.
Focused on transforming animal protein production, TARGAN’s mission is to empower poultry, aquaculture and swine producers by enhancing efficiency and minimizing losses through automated animal evaluation and vaccination systems made possible by breakthrough technologies. The new headquarters will serve as TARGAN’s manufacturing site, focusing on high-speed imaging, feature recognition, artificial intelligence, robotics and microfluidics in systems tailored for the commercial animal protein production industry, the company said.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Wake County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Shinica Thomas and Raleigh Mayor Pro Tem Corey Branch joined TARGAN CEO Ramin Karimpour and other company officials and employees at the ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of the new facility.
“North Carolina is the number one state for business, thanks to life sciences companies like TARGAN,” said Gov. Cooper. “We look forward to seeing TARGAN continue to grow and succeed with the opening of its new headquarters here in Raleigh.”
Employing approximately 120 professionals, TARGAN envisions expanding its workforce to more than 200 employees by the close of 2024. The 100,000-square-foot space boasts state-of-the-art laboratories, open floor plan staff offices, advanced training facilities and a manufacturing floor. Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, attendees toured the facility with TARGAN executives.
“North Carolina has always been a leader in agriculture, and we are continuing that tradition as TARGAN pioneers exciting new capabilities that will help feed the world in a more sustainable way, enhance protein producing animals’ standard of care, and improve producers’ bottom line,” TARGAN CEO Ramin Karimpour said. “The Triangle – specifically Raleigh – is the perfect place to grow our business, thanks to its robust life sciences industry, exceptional talent pool and varied educational institutions. Our new state-of-the-art R&D and manufacturing facility will help us push the boundaries of innovation and deliver on our promise to transform animal protein production.”
The first two offerings TARGAN will bring to market include an automated, targeted vaccine delivery system and a gender identification system. The vaccine delivery system has the ability to precisely vaccinate up to 100,000 chicks per hour against harmful diseases, the company said.
In parallel, the gender identification system is a unique and fully automated system that can determine the gender of individual day-old chicks to allow separate sex rearing by poultry producers. This approach reduces feed cost and waste and also optimizes bird nutrition, the company said.
With a track record of successfully commercializing products within the poultry sector, the company is now setting its sights on expanding offerings to encompass both aquaculture and livestock. The company’s commitment remains focused on developing and installing AI-powered systems, with the Raleigh-based facility serving as the central hub for these endeavors globally.
Original Article Source: NC Biotech Center
Pairwise, Bayer Build On Successful Gene Editing Partnership With New Five-Year, Multi-Million Dollar Collaboration to Further Advance Short-Stature Corn
Pairwise, a food and agriculture company known for bringing the first gene-edited food to the U.S. market, and Bayer today announced a new five-year, multi-million dollar agreement focused on innovations in short-stature corn. This new program leverages Pairwise’s Fulcrum™ platform and builds on the success of the companies’ initial five-year collaboration for corn, soy, wheat, cotton, and canola.
The upcoming collaboration between Pairwise and Bayer will be focused on optimizing and enhancing gene-edited short-stature corn for future use in Bayer’s Preceon™ Smart Corn System. Short-stature corn – with a targeted height of 30 to 40 percent less than traditional corn – is an innovative new approach to growing corn and offers a number of sustainability benefits, including protections from crop loss due to increasingly severe weather events and extreme winds brought about by climate change. Short-stature corn also allows for more precise application of inputs throughout the growing season, sustainably growing more through reduced risk of crop loss.
“Pairwise’s proprietary base editing tools allow for specific changes at virtually any location in the genome, which has the potential to make targeted and much needed improvements in agriculture,” said Bob Reiter, Head of R&D at Bayer’s Crop Science Division. “These kinds of new genomic techniques are extraordinarily focused and produce results much more quickly and precisely than the conventional breeding process, ensuring that we can accelerate the delivery of solutions that growers need.”
The initial five-year collaboration focused on corn, soy, wheat, cotton and canola with the aim of empowering producers to grow more with fewer inputs on the same amount of land. The partnership, which concluded in June 2023, resulted in 27 novel traits being transferred into Bayer’s testing programs. Results of the program demonstrated significant commercial value including edited corn phenotypes with a 20 percent increase in kernel row numbers, which could lead to significantly more yield on the same number of acres. Another outcome has been edited soy that reduces the severity of Asian soybean rust, potentially reducing the need for fungicides to combat the disease and protecting the potential for higher yields.
These, and other significant achievements, were made possible through the development of custom gene editing tools by Pairwise. These include REDRAW™, or RNA encoded DNA replacement of alleles with CRISPR, a precise templated editing toolbox that can make any type of small edit at CRISPR-targeted sites. Another tool is SHARC™, a proprietary enzyme that works well for cutting, base editing, and REDRAW editing. These tools will also be used in the new collaboration focused on advancing short-stature corn.
“We look forward to continuing our work with Bayer, with new emphasis on contributing to their novel smart corn system,” added Tom Adams, Co-founder and CEO at Pairwise. “Working closely with Bayer on furthering this revolution in corn gives us the market reach to enable our technology innovations to more quickly adjust to the biggest challenge of our time: the changing climate.”
Pairwise has already demonstrated the successful use of CRISPR and other emerging technologies to accelerate the delivery of new products to markets, and recently launched its first product, Conscious™ Greens into the U.S. foodservice channel. Through the leading use of cutting-edge technologies, and due to the efficiency of the company’s Fulcrum Platform, the product was advanced from concept to commercialization in just four years. In addition, Pairwise works with other innovative companies and has licensed its IP for applications in additional crops of global importance, including licensing elements of the Fulcrum Platform to Tropic Biosciences for applications in banana and coffee.
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About Pairwise:
Pairwise is a company dedicated to building a healthier world through better fruits and vegetables and is driven by the belief that healthy food should be consistently fresh, delicious, and convenient, Pairwise brings together leaders in agriculture, technology, and consumer foods to harness the transformative potential of new genomics technologies to create innovative new products. Pairwise is working to develop new varieties of crops, and to partner with organizations that seek to drive innovation and access across the plant-based economy. In February 2021, Pairwise raised $90 million in a successful series B funding round, bringing total fundraising to $115 million. Backed by industry leading investors Deerfield, Aliment Capital, Leaps by Bayer, and Temasek, Pairwise has grown to over 160 employees in five years with locations in North Carolina and California. The company was founded by Chief Executive Officer Tom Adams and Chief Business Officer Haven Baker, with scientific co-founders J. Keith Joung, Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School, David Liu, Director of the Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, and Vice-Chair of the Faculty at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT; and Feng Zhang, McGovern Investigator and a professor at MIT. For more information, visit www.pairwise.com
Learn more about the Fulcrum Platform here: https://vimeo.com/82129291
Pairwise Media Contact:
Jess Fitzgerald
925-247-4057
Jess.FitzGerald@edible-inc.com
About Bayer:
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to help people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to driving sustainable development and generating a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2022, the Group employed around 101,000 people and had sales of 50.7 billion euros. R&D expenses before special items amounted to 6.2 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.
Bayer Media inquiries:
Alex Hennig
+49 175 30-89736
Forward-Looking Statements: This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
Bayer Media Inquiries:
Alex Hennig
+49 175 30-89736
Bayer Investor Inquiries:
Bayer Investor Relations Team
+49 214 30-72704
www.bayer.com/en/investors/ir-team
Original Article Source: Pairwise
Environmentally friendly products to combat crop diseases, pests is aim of RTP startup
Biopesticide startup Innatrix is on a quest to develop environmentally friendly products to control crop diseases and pests.
The Research Triangle Park-based business hopes to secure $3 million in equity financing by the end of 2023 to support those efforts. Included in the mix are field trials, product manufacturing, a regulatory package submission and the expansion of its small staff.
The company already has received a total of $1.5 million this year from the National Science Foundation and United Soybean Board that’s not part of the fundraising goal.
Innatrix uses peptides to block disease-promoting proteins, and RNA interference (RNAi) to deactivate genes essential to the survival of pests in crops. These technologies offer new biological solutions to a difficult old problem – one traditionally tackled through the use, and often overuse, of chemical-based pesticides.
CEO Jiarui Li, Ph.D., said the company has initially directed its unique peptide platform at three core products: InnalB to prevent potato late blight; InnaNema to combat soybean cyst nematode; and InnaHLB to address citrus greening. The combined U.S. market to manage these infestations approaches $800 million annually.
The platform uses machine learning and other artificial intelligence tools to identify promising molecular targets and to generate leads to disrupt their function, Li explained. It goes after the virulence factors that must be present for pathogens to cause crop diseases.
PROGRESS IN 2023
He said Innatrix “has made a lot of progress” in advancing its technology in 2023. Field trials for InnalB – the company’s biopesticide candidate for potato late blight – are underway in North Carolina and Wisconsin, with data expected as early as September. The goal is to have InnalB ready for market by 2026.
The company plans to eventually sell its biological products to agricultural chemical companies or pesticide distributors who will dispense the crop treatments to farmers.
Innatrix also is intensifying its regulatory efforts by supplementing its biochemical product application data and by filing new patent submissions.
The company plans to add two more key personnel – a vice president of business development and a formulation scientist – to help move its new programs forward. Its current eight-person team has more than 150 years of collective experience in agricultural product development and commercialization.
THE BENEFITS OF BIOPESTICIDES
Li said Innatrix’s peptide platform should be as effective as conventional chemical treatments, with the added advantage of an improved safety and environmental profile. The technology also has the potential to be transferable to other crops and pests, and it may work successfully to control invasive weeds.
The biological approach to crop protection offers other benefits as well. The pathway to regulatory approval is much easier, so the time to get a new product to market could be cut by close to two-thirds, Li pointed out. And average development costs could be reduced by almost 95%.
He noted that biopesticides also play a pivotal role in managing disease resistance to chemical pesticides by attacking new molecular targets. They can be used effectively in tandem with conventional treatments to improve pest and disease control and decrease the likelihood that any of the products will lose their effectiveness.
Prominent agricultural biologicals industry expert Pam Marrone, Ph.D., said biopesticides are rapidly gaining acceptance as more farmers become familiar with how they work, environmental and other benefits become clearer, and as disease resistance to conventional pesticides creates more of a problem. “Biopesticides is a growing global industry,” she noted. “Farmers’ perception of the technology is improving, and resistance management is becoming more important to them.
“I don’t see huge barriers to Innatrix’s success,” added Marrone, who serves as the company’s senior advisor for biological product development. “Within two or three years, Innatrix started from ground zero and progressed to field trials and validation of their platform. That’s pretty remarkable. And the team is fantastic.”
ABOUT INNATRIX
Innatrix was founded in 2013 by then-CEO Marshall Edgell, Ph.D., a long-time member of the microbiology faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Li joined the company as research director and senior scientist in 2018 and was named CEO in 2020.
The North Carolina Biotechnology Center provided a $250,000 loan to Innatrix in 2021 to develop biopesticides to treat late blight disease in potatoes and tomatoes. NCBiotech currently is considering a second loan to the business.
“We have been tremendously impressed with the progress Innatrix has made over a short period of time and are delighted to support the company in that journey,” said Paul Ulanch, Ph.D., senior director of focused initiatives at NCBiotech. “Biopesticides have become an important tool for farmers, and we look forward to great things from Innatrix in the future.”
Original Article Source: WRAL TechWire
RTP agtech Harpe Bioherbicide lands $275k federal grant
Triangle based Harpe Bioherbicide Solutions has landed a $275,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.
The company says the funs will be used for research related to its bioherbicide formulations that are “derived from natural plant extracts to control weeds resistant to synthetic herbicides.”
Says the NSF: “Widespread adoption of the proposed technology is expected to benefit farmers and crop producers reducing societal strain, financial burden, and environmental stress from crop losses due to herbicide resistant weeds by eliminating these weeds through an environmentally safe method, without the use of excess fuel, time, equipment, and synthetic herbicides.”
Noted Dr. Chad Brommer, Harpe Bioherbicide co-founder and Chief Technology Officer who is principal investigator on the SBIR Phase 1 project, said, “Harpe Bioherbicide was created to support farmers on a global scale by developing novel and natural herbicide solutions to help mitigate increasing weed resistance challenges while seeking to advance sustainable practices in global food production.
Original Article Course: WRAL TechWire
Believer Meats CEO Gustavo Burger Meets U.S. Senators Ted Budd and Thom Tillis, Reaffirms Commitment to Investing in North Carolina
During the meeting, the Believer Meats executives reaffirmed the company’s unwavering commitment to investing in the state of North Carolina, promoting local employment opportunities, and fostering economic growth. As the cultivated meat industry gears up for commercialization and wider consumer adoption in 2024, the Senators expressed their enthusiasm for learning more about the industry’s potential to address food insecurity and the pivotal role that North Carolina can play in this regard.
Believer Meats is currently constructing its first U.S. commercial production facility in Wilson, North Carolina, with an anticipated opening in Q2 2024. Once operational, the 200,000-square-foot facility will be the largest cultivated meat production center in the world with the capacity to produce at least 10,000 metric tons of cultivated meat. The Senators expressed their eagerness to support Believer Meats as the company progresses towards commissioning its facility and launching product within the U.S. market.
“It was an incredibly rewarding experience to introduce Believer Meats to U.S. Senators Ted Budd and Thom Tillis,” said Gustavo Burger, CEO of Believer Meats. “During our meeting, we had the opportunity to discuss the commitments we are making in their home state of North Carolina, the plan for commercialization, and the partnerships we have been cultivating with local research institutions and universities. We look forward to serving both senators their first taste of Believer soon.”
“It was great to meet with Believer Meats as they expand their presence in North Carolina. Believer Meats’ more than $120 million investment in Wilson County for their first U.S.-based production facility that will employ over 100 North Carolinians represents a major economic win for the state and region,” said Senator Tillis. “North Carolina remains one of the best states in the country for innovative new businesses, and Believer Meats investment reflects that.”
When selecting the location for its first U.S. production facility, Believer Meats explored several well-established manufacturing corridors across the country. Ultimately, the company chose Wilson County due to its abundance of highly skilled STEM professionals, thriving ecosystem of biotech and food tech companies, and the region’s success in implementing technology-driven solutions to enhance residents’ lives. These factors closely align with Believer Meats’ mission of making it possible for all future generations to eat meat.
The company is making an initial planned investment of over $120 million in Wilson County, located approximately 40 miles east of Raleigh, N.C., which includes plans to create over 100 new jobs over the next three years. The facility will feature proprietary, custom-made bioreactors capable of achieving high cell densities and yields using patented processes. Additionally, the state-of-the-art facility will house a product and food development center, a modern kitchen for tastings, as well as office and conference spaces.
For more information, visit believermeats.com and follow @believermeats on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
About Believer Meats
Believer Meats (formerly Future Meat Technologies) is a cultivated meat company pioneering the first scalable cultivated meat production system that can feed the world. Founded in 2018, Believer’s mission is to ensure that future generations can enjoy the meat we know and love. Believer is building a better future for people, animals and the planet with meat that is delicious, sustainable, nutritious, and broadly accessible. For more information, visit us at believermeats.com.
Original Article Source: PRNewswire
Economic Impact of North Carolina Agriculture and Agribusiness Reaches Record $103.2 Billion
Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler today announced that for the first time the economic impact of North Carolina’s agriculture and agribusiness industry has topped $100 billion, reaching a new record of $103.2 billion.
Troxler shared the new economic impact numbers from N.C. State economist and professor emeritus Dr. Mike Walden. Walden’s numbers reflect the economic value of growing, processing and delivering food, natural fiber and forestry products and is calculated using the latest USDA statistics.
“When I took office in 2005, the economic impact of agriculture and agribusiness was $59 billion and $100 billion seemed like a good goal to work toward. In 2016, I made a prediction that North Carolina’s agriculture and agribusiness industry would soon reach $100 billion,” Troxler said. “I’m proud to say that we’ve reached that goal and surpassed last year’s economic impact by more than 11 percent. Reaching this milestone is a big accomplishment for everyone in agriculture and agribusiness and proves how much we can accomplish when we are all pulling together.”
Agriculture is North Carolina’s No. 1 industry, employing about one fifth of the state’s workforce. Last year’s economic impact figure was $92.9 billion.
“We are blessed to have a strong, resilient, and engaged agriculture community that includes farmers, agribusiness owners, commodity associations, agricultural associations and effective leadership in the North Carolina General Assembly,” Troxler said. “I can assure you we will set new goals and keep North Carolina agriculture growing.”
Original Article Source: NCDA&CS
NC State Spin-off TreeCo To Breed a Better Forest
A company founded by two NC State researchers is setting out to revolutionize the forestry industry by combining insights from tree genetics with the power of genome editing.
North Carolina is part of the nation’s wood basket. Forestry contributes over $32 billion to the N.C. economy, providing about 150,000 local jobs. Forests produce fiber, used for essential items such as bathroom tissue and printer paper; lumber for construction and furniture; and green chemicals.
Like farmers, foresters are facing plagues of invasive pests, increasingly severe storms and changing weather patterns. Unlike farmers, foresters have been slow to adopt new technologies such as genome editing that can mitigate these challenges. And breeding long-lived trees takes significantly longer than breeding annual crops.
Rodolphe Barrangou, the Todd R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Professor in Probiotics Research, is a pioneer in new technologies for safe, efficient and non-GMO genome editing. He is a co-founder of TreeCo.
“We believe that the challenges that are lying ahead of us — and are here today — warrant the use of disruptive technologies — like genome editing — to speed up the enhancement of tree traits that are beneficial to the environment, and valuable commercially,” said Barrangou. “We will combine our expertise in tree genetics and in genome editing technologies to democratize that technology for forestry.”
Jack Wang, an assistant professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources and co-founder of TreeCo, has extensive experience studying and computationally modeling which tree genes are responsible for important traits. Wang, and the College of Natural Resources, has elite breeding lines and seed banks of commercially important trees such as pines, firs, poplars, and hemlocks.
“We have identified several unique gene targets that could confer significant trait improvements in stress resistance, or for improved conversion of wood into a particular fiber or chemical product,” Wang said. “But before today, there has not been a feasible route to modify these genes that would enable trait improvement, particularly for commercial applications or ecosystem conservation. But new genome editing technologies will make forestry an efficient, robust industry that can meet the needs of society.”
In mid-May, Barrangou and six other finalists pitched their startups plans at Alexandria LaunchLabs’ inaugural (and virtual) AgTech Innovation competition.
While TreeCo was not selected for the $100,000 prize, the co-founders are forging ahead. Barrangou said, “For every no that we get, I’m that much more amped up to get a yes the next time.”
He added that trees take time to breed and a long time to grow, which may appear unusual and challenging for many investors. However, the timelines and processes particular to the forestry industry can be quite appealing to other investors focused on sustainability.
TreeCo past and future
Barrangou and Wang met about two years ago, and supported by the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund, have been working together on three proof-of-concept projects targeting different genes and traits for different forestry segments, such as lumber, chemical production and fiber production.
In fact, TreeCo conducted an economic analysis and found that their trees enhanced for pulping purposes, would save paper mills $27 per ton of paper. In other words, their trees with enhanced traits would reduce the cost of producing a ton of paper from $414 per ton to $387 per ton of paper by reducing energy-intensive bottlenecks. This would result in substantial long-term financial gains, especially given the large scale of forestry companies, Barrangou added.
Barrangou and Wang aim to build, and expand upon, non-exclusive partnerships with forestry companies to license their technology and trees with demonstrated enhanced traits, and see acres of TreeCo developed trees in the next two to five years.
“I anticipate that within five to six years, we will have generated a collection of unique and specialized trees targeting specific segments of the industry, whether it be for climate resilience, fiber production, bioenergy or timber,” Wang said. “Not only will TreeCo be the R&D engine of the forestry industry, but it will be this sort of shining light of hope. We will provide this amazing innovative technology to improve trees at a rate that is much faster, safer and more precise than any technology that is currently available and used in forestry.”
In order to help them reach that stage, Barrangou and Wang are seeking non-dilutive funding such as small business and start-up-specific federal grants as well as traditional federal funding to support their scientific research.
Original Article Source: NCSU