A Cincinnati-based agricultural startup has raised fresh funds from a venture capital firm backed by a Saudi Arabia-based public company.
BioWish Technologies, which provides biotech solutions for the agriculture, aquaculture and environmental management industries, recently closed a capital investment deal with SABIC Ventures, an affiliate of Saudi Arabia’s SABIC Agri-Nutrients Co.
The raise equaled $5 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. That brings the company's total money raised to date to $44 million, per Business Courier research.
The new investment will broaden and accelerate product commercialization of a SABIC Agri-Nutrients product called Bio-Enhanced Urea, powered by Biowish. BioWish CEO Ian Edwards said the collaboration will help farmers “maximize productivity, increase income and improve sustainability efforts.”
The news comes a little more than a month after BioWish first announced its partnership with SABIC Agri-Nutrients Co. The companies have been working to launch a fertilizer enhanced with the Cincinnati company’s crop liquid.
SABIC’s Bio-Enhanced Urea features BioWish’s proprietary HoloGene 3 technology, which can be coated onto dry fertilizer or mixed with liquid fertilizer. It’s specifically designed to improve soil productivity and plant vigor, “which optimizes yield potential,” the companies said in a release. “This unique mode of action ... is proven to achieve consistent results across a broad range of operating conditions, climates and environments – all at a low cost to farmers.”
BioWish president Rod Vautier told Cincy Inno in July the hope is for savings to also trickle down to the consumer – supply chain issues have sent food prices soaring around the world. “Anytime a grower can fix or reduce costs while increasing productivity, it’s a good day."
The enhanced fertilizer will launch in target U.S. geographies beginning in fall 2022 in preparation for spring 2023 application, according to Vautier.
The partnership will expand to New Zealand and Zambia markets in late 2022.
As part of the financing plan, BioWish will continue to expand its research and development efforts as well as advance further customizations across a range of SABIC fertilizers, serving as "the foundation for future products and other agronomic innovations.”
“We chose to partner with BioWish Technologies because they have proven themselves as a leader in the industry,” Munif Al-Munif, general manager of agri-nutrients technology at SABIC, said. “We believe our combined products is a groundbreaking solution.”
Headquartered in Hyde Park, BioWish Technologies was founded in 2007 and moved from Chicago to Cincinnati in 2012. The company began commercializing its products in 2016.
BioWish is currently working with more than 60 agronomy partners around the globe.
