AgBiome, a crop protection company based in North Carolina, may layoff all employees by Dec. 15. It’s being reported the company has filed paperwork required by the federal government when a business closes a plant effecting at least 50 workers in a 30-day period. AgBiome has more than 100 employees.
In a statement to AgWeb, AgBiome leaders said:
“We will continue to produce, market, sell, and support our products for the foreseeable future. We are confident that Howler and Theia will continue to be critical biological solutions that growers will depend on to safely grow their crops for many years to come.
Unfortunately, we needed to raise capital in an extremely challenging VC and private equity market. Many excellent companies, including AgBiome, are struggling to raise capital.
We are continuing ongoing discussions with potential partners and investors that would push forward the company’s products, platform, and science.
While we remain optimistic, we wanted to ensure that our extraordinary employees have an opportunity to immediately explore other alternatives.”
Founded in 2012, AgBiome markets Howler and Theia fungicides. Its microbial products are developed using the GENESIS (Gene and Strain Identification System) platform.
The company’s statement continued saying:
“Our products are validated as industry-leading biological fungicides. Our products compete effectively with synthetic chemicals.
Our discovery platform has driven a rich pipeline and partnerships inside and outside our core crop protection business.”
Howler fungicide received EPA approval in August 2017. Theia fungicide received EPA approval in June 2022.
Its latest funding round in September 2021 raised $116 million. AgBiome received a $6.5 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to research a natural microbiome to increase the yield of sweet potato crops.
