Vive Crop Protection recently announced the closing of its $10 million financing from existing and new investors, including Middleland Capital and the Business Development Bank of Canada’s (BDC) Cleantech Practice. This capital will support commercialization of three new crop protection products and continued field development of Vive’s deep pipeline.
“Thanks to the leadership of Vive executive chairman Keith Thomas, we were able to close this financing round led by investors who understand the value of Vive’s technology,” says Vive CEO Darren Anderson.
Vive sees its patented Allosperse Delivery System as having unlimited potential in the North American and global crop protection markets because it allows agricultural chemicals that were previously incompatible to be mixed with liquid fertilizer and applied at the right time for maximum benefit to the crop. It also saves growers time and money by limiting the number of times they need to drive equipment over the field to manage any crop.
In the 2020 crop season, the Allosperse Delivery System will be included in five Vive-branded products and a number of products available through other manufacturers.
“We are delighted to be working with this group of investors because it puts Vive in a strong position for rapid growth in this exciting industry,” says Anderson.
This investment is part of BDC’s $700 million, five-year commitment announced in 2018 to help high-potential Canadian cleantech firms with market-ready technology or products meet the capital-intensive needs of scaling and achieving timely growth.
“Vive’s impressive growth and market traction speak to its management’s ability to bring this innovative technology to a market with a challenging sales cycle,” says Susan Rohac, vice president of Cleantech Practice at BDC. “This investment will accelerate Vive’s mission of increasing farm efficiency and productivity while reducing the farmer’s environmental impact.”
“Vive’s proprietary Allosperse technology creates a compelling ROI for the farmer by simplifying the pesticide application process,” adds Jahangir Bhatti, BDC’s director of Cleantech Practice, who led the investment for BDC. “With multiple product launches in the near future, Vive is poised for rapid scale-up as their products have potential to become a critical component of a farmer’s operation.”
Learn more about Vive Crop Protection at www.vivecrop.com.