The UK’s first nature-inspired pesticide company, SOLASTA Bio has just secured a further round of investment totaling £4 million to scale up the development of its next-generation insecticides.
The pre-Series A funding round was led by Yield Lab Europe, an Agtech impact venture capital fund, which invests into early-stage European AgriFoodTech companies. Other investors include NL-based impact venture fund Rubio Impact Ventures, Scottish Enterprise, Cavallo Ventures, SIS Ventures (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Social Investment Scotland), UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund (UKI2S), and several private agritech investors. The project is also funded by UK’s innovation agency helping businesses – Innovate UK’s Transforming Food Production competition and Scottish Enterprise. The latest round brings SOLASTA Bio’s total funding to £5.5 million.
Eco-friendly insecticides
SOLASTA Bio is a Glasgow-based company that develops environmentally friendly Insect Control Agents (ICAs) for crop protection. Furthermore, these ICAs protect beneficial insects like bees, which are essential to the ecosystem.
The female-led company has developed the world’s first technology platform for creating neuropeptide-based insect control products that are nature-inspired rather than selected from a synthetic chemistry library. These products effectively target insect pests while preserving beneficial pollinators such as bees in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. Disturbance of target physiological processes by neuropeptide-based ICAs leads to a reduction in pest species. SOLASTA Bio’s platform can be mobilised for any pest of interest.
With its latest funding secured, SOLASTA Bio is aiming to scale up its UK and US operations, expand its technical and commercial teams, creating 25 jobs, accelerate the development of its technology platform and target new markets.
Having run several successful early-stage R&D trials with commercial partners, SOLASTA is on course to bring its first ICAs to market in 2027, in at least half the time traditionally taken by synthetic pest control products. SOLASTA Bio’s technology is patent protected with further patent protection currently under submission.
A spin-off for crop protection
SOLASTA Bio, a Glasgow University spin-out, was founded by scientist and entrepreneur Professor Shireen Davies, who acts as CEO, along with Professor Julian Dow, a professor of insect biology and functional genomics, who is the Chief Scientific Officer, and Paul Bernasconi, the Chief Technology Officer. In 2020, the company was founded following four years of research funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the European Commission, as well as commercialisation support from Scottish Enterprise. Using environmentally friendly products, the team develops crop protection products that target insect pests while preserving bees and other beneficial pollinators. The team also includes Chair, Dr Rob Wylie, CFO, David Armour, and Chief Commercial Officer, Dr Daphne Preuss. The company currently employs a team of 25 R&D, commercial staff and consultants.
Currently, synthetic chemicals account for 94% of insecticides, with a projected value of $27 billion in 2028. It is estimated that 75% of food crops are pollinated by insects, but other insects cause enormous economic, social, and health damage, accounting for about $70 billion in US crop losses. As a result of widespread insect resistance, a lack of species specificity, increased regulatory controls, and consumer preferences for non-chemical residues, the insecticides market is facing increasing pressure.
Shireen Davies PhD, FRSE, CEO, SOLASTA Bio commented: “We’ve spent the past 18 months developing our platform and validating peptide candidates with expert third parties and commercial partners. We’re really excited by the results and feel that we’re ready to take the next step towards commercialising our technology. With the issue of food security, and effective crop protection becoming an increasingly pressing issue for the agriculture industry and governments worldwide, there is an urgent need for sustainable environmentally-friendly alternatives to current synthetic pesticides. We’re confident that our technology provides the solution and has the potential to make a huge impact.”
Kerry Sharp, Director of Entrepreneurship and Investment at Scottish Enterprise, said: “SOLASTA is a terrific example of how breakthroughs in science and academia can be brought to bear on the world’s grand challenges and build the high-growth businesses of the future.
“We’ve supported the company since its very earliest stages and continue to be impressed by its product development; expanding, diverse team; and the strong cadre of investors it’s attracted.”
Innovations transforming the world
Oliver Sexton, Investment Director UKI2S commented, “The fund backs world-changing technology at an early stage and the results that the SOLASTA have shown point to a notable improvement in pest control, vastly reducing harm to beneficial insects and reducing use of petrochemicals.”
Harry Howarth, Investment Manager, SIS Ventures commented: As an investor in impact-led business, SOLASTA Bio is a superb example of how business can effectively balance people, planet and profit. There’s a clear industry demand for their eco-friendly insect control agents, with significant benefits for crop protection. We’re looking forward to continuing our work with Shireen and the team as they move one step closer to bringing these products to market.”
Tijl Hoefnagels, Venture Partner, Rubio Impact Ventures commented “SOLASTA’s team translated deep insect physiology knowledge to pest control agents that bring no collateral damage to other animals or pollinators. This is a huge white spot in the current market offering. As Rubio deems the loss of biodiversity as urgent as climate change, SOLASTA is right in the sweet spot of what we want to invest in.”
Brett Morris, Managing Director, Cavallo Ventures commented “Cavallo Ventures is thrilled to partner with SOLASTA Bio and invest in their mission to develop eco-friendly bio-insecticides. Their unique, differentiated neuropeptide technology provides a targeted approach to pest control addressing growers’ critical unmet crop protection needs. We’re excited to support Dr Shireen Davies and her world-class team to help SOLASTA define and scale the next generation of biological insecticides in the coming years.
Chris Danks, Innovation Lead, Innovate UK commented “We are delighted to have supported this investment with Innovate UK providing aligned grant support through our Transforming Food Production Investor Partnership initiative”.
