Fire Awards: Winner - Agtech/Food tech
Agriculture technology startup Pluton Biosciences announced in May it raised a $16.5 million funding round it says will help expand its team and advance its initial products toward commercialization. Pluton, which is developing carbon sequestration and pest control products, currently has about 20 employees and expects that to grow to about 35 in the next 18 months.
Founded in 2017, Pluton has developed a process, called micromining, that it says allows for examining microorganisms in soil samples that can be used to develop natural products designed to mitigate climate change and reduce the use of synthetic chemicals in agriculture. Pluton is led by CEO Elizabeth Gallegos, who answered questions about the company’s recent milestones.
What was your company’s biggest achievement in the past year? The Series A raise was a huge win for us. Fundraising is very difficult in this environment. All the stars must align to make it happen. It was a grind to get there, but not only did the stars align, the universe aligned. Our round was oversubscribed. We have an incredible syndicate of existing and new investors, and a board of directors that is stacked with people with deep industry knowledge and a history of success. We are well prepared to move this company forward.
How will that capital help the company grow? Capital raised to date has funded our micromining discovery platform that generates early product leads. Two product leads have advanced to proof of concept: a carbon and nitrogen sequestration product (MCC1) and a novel crop protection product. Achieving those product milestones gave investors a reason to believe that we are on the right track. This new capital infusion will be used to move those products toward commercial development. For MCCs, this includes field-testing, formulation development, production scale-up and regulatory work. For the crop protection product, this includes optimizing the potency to control fall armyworm, a devastating agricultural pest. In addition, the micromining discovery platform will be optimized and automated to generate additional novel product leads. To achieve success in those areas, we are growing our team, adding leadership, functional capabilities and capacity to R&D and product development.
It’s a tough venture capital market right now. How was the company able to successfully raise capital and bring in new investors? Our recent successful fundraising and ability to attract new investors can be attributed to a combination of factors. First, Pluton’s vision of making agriculture climate-negative is both compelling and investable. Carbon sequestration in agriculture has the potential to be a significant contributor to overall net emission reduction. Pluton’s focus on developing products that increase grower income while sequestering carbon resonates with investors. Living at the intersection of climate and agriculture makes us attractive to traditional ag investors as well as climate, impact and strategic corporate investors. Having an expanded pool of interested investors in this difficult environment was an advantage. However, that’s only one piece of the puzzle. Investors won’t invest in a team if they don’t believe in the team’s ability to execute and achieve their goals. We have a leadership team with extensive industry experience and a track record of success. Additionally, we have a talented research team that is making scientific breakthroughs and delivering on all milestones. Lastly, we couldn’t have been successful without our earlier investors. Their valuable advice, access to networks, and willingness to provide support at critical junctures was very important to our Series A raise.
Pluton has a focus on helping mitigate climate change. How will its products help lessen the effects of climate change and enhance sustainability? Reducing atmospheric carbon is essential for maintaining a livable climate. As the world population grows, more food must be produced. Because agriculture is a major producer of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the goal of producing more food conflicts with the goal of reducing GHG emissions. Pluton is committed to resolving this issue by addressing the full agricultural system, improving the GHG profile of crop production inputs, soil, and crops to shift global agriculture from a carbon source to a carbon sink. Our products are aimed at sequestering carbon, producing more sustainable nitrogen for crops, improving soil health and crop yields.
For example, our MCC product is a consortium of microbes that sequesters carbon and nitrogen from the atmosphere and places it in the soil. This product will reduce the need for growers to apply synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and will also increase soil carbon, making soils healthier and more productive; which will reduce GHG emissions.
What is Pluton’s top goal for the next year? Our primary focus this year is to move our MCC1 product further into the product development phase, including demonstrating proof of concept in the field, strengthening current partnerships and developing further collaborations around our products.
Is Pluton currently hiring? If so, for what roles? Yes. We have already added 11 positions since we closed the funding round. Pluton is currently hiring a head of research to lead our R&D team. We will soon be adding a few senior scientists and an agronomist to the team. We also believe strongly in helping to train the next generation of scientists in St. Louis so we have an internship program with three to four college interns per semester, so we will soon be filling those roles for the fall semester.
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