Minagro raises €1.2M under new management

Belgian spin-out to expand portfolio of greener crop care ingredients and accelerate activities as stand-alone company
 
Louvain-la-Neuve (near Brussels) Belgium, April 18, 2023 – Minagro, a developer of high-quality green products for crop care, today announces that under new management it has raised €1.2M ($1.3M) in financing. Minagro’s management team led the round with participation from Invest.BW and K&E. The renewed structure will enable Minagro to operate as a stand-alone company and accelerate development of its greener agricultural ingredients portfolio with new proprietary technologies.
 
Since 2019, Minagro, previously an affiliate of the Minafin Group, has been developing high-quality green ingredients for crop care based on sustainable raw materials. Its greener and bio-based solutions improve crop protection and nutrition, while limiting the crop care industry’s impact on the environment.
 
Minagro will use the proceeds from this fundraising to continue its market validation process and scale-up the ingredients in its current portfolio.
 
Plans include reinforcing its R&D assets in bio-based and specialty chemistry and developing collaboration projects, in order to widen its agrochemical ingredient product line. Collaborations have already been initiated with different regional innovation clusters (Wagralim and Greenwin) and research centers, such as UCLouvain, HE Condorcet and Celabor.
 
“Minagro is embarking on a new journey built upon its achievements over the last four years. Commercializing agrochemical ingredients is a long process. We are proud of how far we have come in testing our preservatives, adjuvants and solvents and having them registered by various crop protection and nutrition companies,” said Arnold de Maere, managing director of Minagro. “Today, our challenge is to innovate further with new products to combine performance and sustainability. Our focus will be on those bio-based ingredients that can be permitted in biopesticides and biostimulant products, as well as investigating the use of our ingredients in other applications.”
 
Central to Minagro’s strategy is the EU’s ‘Farm to Fork’ initiative, aimed at accelerating societies’ transition to sustainable food systems. For agrochemical companies this means developing safer and more efficient agrochemicals for conventional and organic farmers. Minagro’s solutions are dedicated to contributing positively to this challenge by supporting agrochemical companies with green and safer ingredients. 
 
The biopesticides and biostimulants markets are expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.6% and 12.1% to reach $11.3bn and $6.5bn, respectively, in 2027. The global crop protection chemical markets value was approximately $63.7bn in 2020 with a CAGR of 3.1%. Market drivers include the need for food safety and more sustainable practices, advocated by consumers and regulatory policies.
 
“Our investment in Minagro supports our strategy to minimize the footprint of our product portfolio. With Minagro’s solutions, we will be able to work with high-quality products, made in a sustainable way,” said Koen Quaghebeur, co-founder of K&E.
 
“In close collaboration with our regional and national ecosystem, and based on an excellent knowledge of its sector, Minagro pursues the development of innovative agrochemical solutions with the ambition of supporting the transition towards more sustainable agriculture at the European level,” said Alexandre Berbinschi, investment manager at Invest.BW.
 
About Invest BW
Invest.BW is a Belgian regional ‘evergreen’ investor managing more than €100M. Its strategy is to invest in all stages of business development with the aim of supporting entrepreneurs in their long-term ambitions. The three main pillars of its investment strategy are digital entrepreneurship, medical applications and transition.
www.investbw.be
 
About K&E
K&E is a Belgian family company with several holdings active in agriculture and crop protection. It acts as a long-term investor and, as a flexible and dynamic company, contributes to producing sufficient and safe food for a rising world population, with the lowest possible ecological footprint.
 
About Minagro
Founded in 2019, Minagro develops high-quality green products for crop care. Its greener solutions, based on sustainable raw materials, aim to improve crop protection and nutrition inputs while limiting the crop care industry’s impact on the environment. Located in Louvain-la-Neuve, Minagro conducts research activities in confirmed proprietary technologies from green and specialty chemistries. Minagro’s solutions are dedicated to contributing positively to environmental challenges by supporting agrochemical companies with green and safer ingredients such as in-can preservatives, adjuvants, solvents and bio-stimulant actives.
www.minagro.eu