Fall Line Capital, US-based venture firm, leads investment in French start-up to launch the development phase of its innovative, ecological solutions on an international scale
Micropep (www.micro-pep.com), an ag-biotech company developing revolutionary biological micropeptide-based solutions for agriculture, announces the completion of a €8.75 million Series A1 financing round.
Fall Line Capital led the Series A1, less than a year after the Series A, in addition to existing investors, Supernova Invest, Sofinnova Partners, FMC Ventures and IRDI/SORIDEC.
Based in Toulouse, France’s center for AgTech development, Micropep has developed a unique technological platform that makes it possible to precisely regulate a plant’s gene expression, without altering its DNA, by the exogenous application of micropeptides, a family of proteins naturally produced by plants to respond to stress and regulate their development.
International Ambitions: Accelerating Development in the United States
The new round of financing will fuel Micropep’s expansion to the United States, making US-based venture fund, Fall Line Capital, a perfect partner. Fall Line Capital is known for its commitment to sustainable agriculture through its strategic investments in both U.S. farmland and innovative AgTech companies. This renowned fund brings added value to Micropep’s evolution, thanks to its expertise in the technological field and concrete knowledge of agronomic issues.
"Micropep has developed a truly novel technology platform in ag-biotech that promises to bring farmers highly effective new and environmentally safe crop protection solutions. We have been impressed by the broad potential of Micropep’s micropeptide discovery platform and by the vision of its leadership team. We are eager to provide our expertise to support the company and its expansion in the US.” — Eric O'Brien, co-founder and Managing Partner of Fall Line Capital
Tomorrow’s Transitions: From Research to Market Adoption
This new investment also marks the first step towards the commercialization of Micropep’s products. Micropep is using this funding to accelerate the development phase of its first micropeptide candidates in the United States and will build a locally-recruited team to deploy its solutions.
"We are extremely happy to welcome Fall Line Capital onboard. Their unparalleled experience in both farm and tech investments will help accelerate the development of our first micropeptide candidates for the US market. Like everywhere else in the world, US farmers will need all the tools they can access to continue to control resistant weeds and pathogens while mitigating the effects of climate change on their crops. Micropep is building for them a revolutionary toolbox of micropeptide- based solutions to first control resistant weeds and diseases. Our unique approach could open new frontiers in crop protection the same way RNA technology did with vaccines." — Thomas Laurent, co-founder and CEO of Micropep
About Micropep Technologies
Micropep is an agricultural biotech firm founded in France in 2016 as a spin-off of “LRSV”, a Plant Research Laboratory at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Toulouse University, a center of excellence in AgTech. The company has developed and patented a unique, non-GMO technology that makes it possible to identify and indirectly modulate the expression of genes or proteins of interest in plants by spraying biology instead of chemistry. The company’s unique approach leverages the incredible potential of micropeptides, short natural peptide molecules that target and regulate plant genes and proteins. Micropep's ambition is to help farmers protect their crops against pathogens and resistant weeds, while preserving yields and respecting the environment. www.micro-pep.com
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Contacts
Micropep PR
contact@micro-pep.com
