In a significant boost to the agritech sector, SugaROx, a UK-based venture pioneering precision biostimulants, has secured a £400,000 strategic investment from The Mosaic Company, a global leader in the fertiliser industry. This investment is part of a £1 million seed round extension, with the remaining £600,000 contributed by existing backers, including UK-based angel investors and sustainable growth-focused investment funds Future Planet Capital and Regenerate Ventures. This development underscores the growing interest and investment in biostimulants, a sector experiencing rapid growth with an estimated 11% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
Biostimulants are substances used to enhance plant nutrition, with the aim of improving agricultural productivity and sustainability. SugaROx’s innovative approach focuses on Trehalose-6-Phosphate (T6P), a biostimulant that boosts crop yields and resilience by inhibiting SnRK1, an enzyme that signals energy scarcity in plants. The company’s recent safety tests have yielded promising results, paving the way for regulatory approval and sparking interest from potential go-to-market partners eager to conduct field trials.
The £1 million extension follows a substantial £2.4 million grant from Innovate UK, the UK’s national innovation agency, aimed at upscaling the manufacturing of SugaROx’s first active ingredient, T6P. This financial injection will enable SugaROx to accelerate its manufacturing timeline, transitioning from in-house lab production to a pilot facility. Mark Robbins, CEO of SugaROx, emphasized the importance of this acceleration, stating, “In response to increasing demand for product samples, we decided to accelerate our manufacturing timeline, fast-tracking the shift from in-house lab production to a pilot facility. The Innovate UK grant and additional investment allows us to do that.”
The strategic partnership with Mosaic is particularly noteworthy. Mosaic’s investment not only provides financial support but also offers access to an established network of trial sites for validating SugaROx’s first product in the US at scale. Additionally, Mosaic’s TruResponse® digital platform will enable SugaROx to visualize field results, significantly enhancing their research capabilities. Dr. Cara Griffiths, Chief Technical Officer and co-founder of SugaROx, highlighted the benefits of this collaboration, stating, “With Mosaic we gain access to an established network of trial sites for validation of our first product in the US at scale. Mosaic will also provide us with access to TruResponse®, a digital platform to visualise field results, which will be extremely valuable for our research.”
For the agritech industry, this investment and partnership signal a growing recognition of the potential of biostimulants to revolutionize agricultural practices. As the global population continues to grow and climate change poses increasing challenges to food production, innovative solutions like SugaROx’s T6P biostimulant offer a promising path forward. By enhancing crop yields and resilience, these technologies can help farmers meet the demands of global food production while reducing the carbon footprint of agriculture.
For investors, the strategic investment by Mosaic and the continued support from existing backers underscore the confidence in SugaROx’s technology and its potential to transform the biostimulants market. The company’s ambitious plans to launch its T6P wheat biostimulant in the UK market in 2027 and in the EU in 2028, followed by trials in soybean and maize with a view to entering the US and Brazilian markets, present a compelling opportunity for growth and impact. As the agritech sector continues to evolve, investments in companies like SugaROx are likely to play a crucial role in shaping the future of sustainable agriculture.