An agricultural technology company based in Research Triangle Park has raised about $10.5 million, with the support of a global nutrition company.
The funding will support Harpe Bioherbicide Solutions as it develops its portfolio of natural herbicide solutions aimed at providing new tools to organic farmers.
Harpe began raising funds in the third quarter of last year, with existing investors Alexandria Venture Investments, iSelect and private agricultural industry investors participating in the round. The company previously raised about $3 million in early 2022.
With this most recent round, Harpe developed a strategic relationship with Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), which led the fundraising. The relationship makes sense for both companies, said Harpe Chief Operating Officer Daniel Pepitone. ADM, which reported about $101.6 billion in revenue last year, is one of the world's leaders in mint production. Meanwhile, Harpe is developing herbicide formulations from active ingredient compounds found in plant extracts – primarily mint.
The company is developing technology that is crop agnostic and that can be used in different aspects of agriculture. This includes herbicides that can be used to kill weeds both before crops grow from the ground and post-harvest, said Pepitone.
Harpe was formed in 2020 around the technology of Chad Brommer, a company founder and its chief technology officer. Pepitone, who comes from more of a commercial background, joined Brommer as a co-founder in 2021. The company subsequently brought on industry veteran Bill Buckner to serve as its CEO. Bucker was previously the regional head of North American operations for Bayer CropScience.
"Harpe Bioherbicide Solutions exists to serve 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," Pepitone said in a statement the company released announcing the raise.
Since its formation, the company has grown to a headcount of 13, mostly focused on research and development, which includes a mix of full-time and contract-based employees. Harpe operates out of office, lab and greenhouse space in Alexandria Launch Labs in Research Triangle Park.
From the beginning, Harpe's goal was not to build a commercial organization, but rather develop technology that can later be sold to a larger organization that already has the infrastructure in place to successfully commercialize the technology and make it available to growers.
The new funding will support Harpe through these final phases of development as the company eyes early 2024 as a potential divestment timeframe.
"We're going to work on further development over the next six, seven, eight months and really enter that divestment phase pretty soon," Pepitone told the Triangle Business Journal.
This process will entail the divestment of the company as a whole, such as its assets and intellectual property. After this process concludes, Pepitone said the team could do it all over again, with funds from this divestment supporting future development of additional technologies.
