Minagro, a developer of high-quality green products for crop care, has announced that under new management it has raised €1.2 million in financing.
Minagro’s management team led the round with participation from Invest.BW and K&E.
The renewed structure will enable Minagro to operate as a standalone company and accelerate development of its greener agricultural ingredients portfolio with new technologies.
Crop care
Since 2019, Minagro, previously an affiliate of the Minafin Group, has been developing high-quality green ingredients for crop care based on sustainable raw materials.
According to the company, its greener and bio-based solutions improve crop protection and nutrition, while limiting the crop care industry’s impact on the environment.
Minagro will use the proceeds from this fundraising to continue its market validation process and scale-up the ingredients in its current portfolio.
Plans include reinforcing its research and development (R&D) assets in bio-based and specialty chemistry, and developing collaboration projects in order to widen its agrochemical ingredient product line.
Collaborations have already been initiated with different regional innovation clusters (Wagralim and Greenwin) and research centres, such as UCLouvain, HE Condorcet and Celabor.
Arnold de Maere, managing director of Minagro said: “Minagro is embarking on a new journey built upon its achievements over the last four years.
“Commercialising agrochemical ingredients is a long process. We are proud of how far we have come in testing our preservatives, adjuvants and solvents and having them registered by various crop protection and nutrition companies.
“Today, our challenge is to innovate further with new products to combine performance and sustainability.
“Our focus will be on those bio-based ingredients that can be permitted in biopesticides and biostimulant products, as well as investigating the use of our ingredients in other applications,” he added.
Farm to Fork
Central to Minagro’s strategy is the EU’s Farm to Fork initiative, aimed at accelerating societal transitions to sustainable food systems.
For agrochemical companies, this means developing safer and more efficient agrochemicals for conventional and organic farmers.
Minagro has said that its solutions are dedicated to contributing positively to this challenge by supporting agrochemical companies with green and safer ingredients.
The biopesticides and biostimulants markets are expected to grow at a rate of 15.6% and 12.1% to reach $11.3 billion and $6.5 billion, respectively, in 2027.
The global crop protection chemical markets value was approximately $63.7 billion in 2020. Market drivers include the need for food safety and more sustainable practices, advocated by consumers and regulatory policies.