Research Triangle Park, North
Carolina
May 1, 2002
Cropsolution, Inc. has
closed its first financing round, totaling $6.4 million. The
round was led by The Aurora Funds, with additional investments
from ATP Capital, Research Triangle Ventures, Charlotte Angel
Partners, The Atlantis Group, and other individual investors.
“We are delighted to have attracted a strong group of investors
that understand the value creation potential offered by
Cropsolution,” said CEO Eric Ward. “This financing round gives
us ample resources to accomplish important milestones for
building the value of the company.” Jeff Clark, General Partner
for The Aurora Funds, the lead investor in the round, added
“Cropsolution has one of the best teams we have seen for a
company at this stage. The unique combination of experience,
leadership skills, and business prowess bodes well for the
company’s future success.”
Cropsolution discovers and develops novel agrochemicals for
protecting crops from diseases, insect pests, and weeds. Crop
protection chemicals are a $30 billion market worldwide, and
constitute an essential part of global food and fiber
production. Cropsolution discovers proprietary compounds,
demonstrates their efficacy in the field, and then seeks
development partners among the first tier multinational
agrochemical manufacturers.
Jonathan Malkin, General Partner for ATP Capital and an early
investor in Cropsolution comments, "Cropsolution is a unique
opportunity in agricultural biotechnology as it combines
enormous addressable markets in need of innovation, robust
technology and seasoned managers. We are pleased to be part of
the effort to build an extraordinary agrochemical company. Scott
Uknes, President, added, “Our business model and technology fit
together to create a unique opportunity. The Agrochemical
industry is in need of new, safe, effective chemicals to help
produce the food and farm products we all use everyday.
Cropsolution uses a proprietary technology called
Evolutionary Chemistry™ that permits the synthesis and selection
of thousands of times more molecules than can be achieved with
any other technology. Cropsolution was spun-out from Invenux,
Inc., a pharmaceutical biotechnology company based in Denver,
CO, and has the exclusive license for Evolutionary Chemistry™ in
agriculture. “Evolutionary Chemistry™ will cut at least two
years off the time needed to discover and develop an
agrochemical, while increasing the cost effectiveness of the
process,” said Michelle Hunt, Cropsolution’s Director of
Strategic Marketing.
Cropsolution has 15 employees and laboratory facilities in
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and Silicon Valley,
California. |
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