Kitchener-based biotech startup Ceragen has secured US$2 million in seed funding to expand operations and develop its technology in additional countries.
Waterloo Engineering alum Matthew Rose (BASc '21, mechanical and mechatronics engineering) and Danielle Rose co-founded the company in 2021. The startup develops soil microbes to aid food production and advance sustainable agriculture and food security.
"Most tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers you buy in the grocery store are grown in greenhouses across Canada. However, with field production becoming increasingly unreliable because of climate change, the demand for greenhouse-grown produce is increasing", said Danielle Rose, CEO at Ceragen.
Based on outcomes from commercial pilot programs in Canada and the U.S., Ceragen's microbes can boost greenhouse production yield by 10 per cent on average.
With two products now on the market for lettuce and tomato plants, the seed funding will allow the company to expand into Mexico and the Netherlands, while also developing new microbe products for cucumbers and strawberries.
“We regularly get asked when we will also have solutions for strawberries and cucumbers, and with this funding round we can finally develop these products,” said Matthews Rose, CTO at Ceragen.
Ceragen is based at Velocity, the University of Waterloo’s startup incubator. The financing round was co-led by Divergent Capital and existing investor 1517 Fund, with participation from Ajira Ventures.
Read Fresh funding to help food security startup Ceragen bloom for the full story.