ImpactAlpha, February 1 — A raft of biotech startups are helping farmers improve soil quality and rely less on synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, a major expense for farmers and a major contributor to climate change.
Similar to Pivot Bio and Ginkgo Bioworks, Somerville, Mass.-based Kula Bio plants microbes in the ground to capture nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it to nutrition for crops.
“Kula Bio’s drop-in replacement for synthetic fertilizer costs less, yields more and zeroes out nitrogen runoff,” said Clay Dumas of Lowercarbon Capital, which led the round.
Regenerative agriculture
Lowercarbon backed Kula’s $10 million seed round last year, alongside The Nature Conservancy, Collaborative Fund and the Grantham Environmental Trust’s Neglected Climate Opportunities Fund. All four investors re-upped their investments in the latest round.
