Argentina’s BUENOS AIRES, Sept. 1, 2022 — Puna Bio today announced the receipt of USD 3.7 million in seed funding, which will be used to expand field trials for wheat and corn, pursue the regulatory pathway in the US and Brazil, and commercially launch its first soybean seed treatment in Argentina that is cost-competitive with current biological solutions.
At One Ventures and Builders, VC is leading the oversubscribed round, including SP Ventures and Air Capital from Brazil, as well as pre-seed funders IndieBio (SOSV), GLOCAL, and Grid Exponential.
Co-founder and CRO Mara Eugenia Faras:
“We were able to comprehend how particular genes generate processes that allow plants to overcome stress conditions by studying the genomics of the bacteria from this harsh environment, which resembles prehistoric Earth or even Mars, said, who has studied La Puna for 20 years and published over 100 research papers on the subject. Those traits can then be used to food crops to aid their growth in comparable situations with nutrient deficiency, drought conditions, abrupt temperature fluctuations, and high UV radiation, all of which are difficulties we are witnessing today.”
According to CEO and co-founder Franco Martnez Levis:
“Without daring innovation, we will soon run out of healthy arable soil adequate to feed the planet.” Thanks to Puna Bio’s patented extremophile seed treatment, we’ve seen yield improvements of up to 25% in individual trials under stressful settings.
The power of these bacteria stretches beyond only the land that is suffering. Like athletes who train at high elevations, they will perform better at sea level. On the regular ground with fertile soil, the seed treatment increases yields on average by 9–13%, which is 3–4X more than what the major companies in this industry are delivering in biologicals.”
More about the company:
Extremophiles, or microorganisms that are 3.5 billion years old and originate from La Puna, the highest and driest desert on Earth, are the main focus of Puna Bio’s efforts to restore soil health. With the help of their biological inputs, farmers can produce crops on salinized or eroded soil with less fertilizer consumption and higher yields. Having treated over 600 tonnes of soybean seeds and conducted field experiments on more than 20,000 acres in Latin America, the company launched in late 2020 has rapidly expanded its R&D operations and field testing in Argentina and the USA.
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