Food as you know it wouldn’t exist without nitrogen. Not only is nitrogen a common building block in organic compounds, crops rely on nitrogen to grow. So farms need nitrogen and nitrogen fertilizers to raise their crops and feed the human race.
But the mass production of nitrogen fertilizer has led to large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions and pollution of bodies of water. Pivot Bio believes that we have to find a cleaner source of nitrogen if we’re going to feed a growing population.
Pivot Bio has created a technology that uses microbes to deliver more nitrogen to crops than synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. As a result, it can give crops the nitrogen they need more efficiently, and significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases it takes to do so.
On Thursday, the Berkeley-based company announced that it raised $100 million in a Series C funding round. The round was led by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and brings the company’s total capital raised to $186 million.
The company plans to use this funding to scale its product, Pivot Bio Proven — a nitrogen solution engineered for growing corn. This product is used on hundreds of thousands of acres of corn, and stock frequently sells out. Funding will also help the company expand its reach internationally and invest in its new Proven Bio Return product, which uses similar microbial nitrogen technology for wheat production.
“Growers and our planet deserve a better fertilizer — one that balances on-farm economics with the farmer’s commitment to leave the land better for the next generation, and Pivot Bio’s technology helps them do just that,” Karsten Temme, CEO and co-founder of Pivot Bio, said in a statement.
“Farmer acceptance of our technology and support of our vision is far beyond our expectations,” Temme continued. “They understand the economics and efficiencies our product offers — more consistent yields, 100 percent nitrogen efficiency with the crop, and a lighter environmental footprint. It’s a triple bottom line for them and our planet.”
