Cambridge, Mass. — Biotechnology company Robigo has raised Series A financing led by Leaps by Bayer to advance engineered microbial biopesticides designed to protect crops from fungal diseases while reducing costs for growers.
The round also included participation from Illumina Ventures, SVG Thrive, Congruent Ventures and Endeavor8. Robigo said the funding will support the commercial development of products targeting diseases in soybeans and specialty crops in the United States, while expanding its pipeline to additional soil-borne pathogens in broadacre crops.
Robigo’s lead product is designed to combat Sudden Death Syndrome in soybeans. The company said its engineered microbes have matched the performance of commercially available chemical treatments at roughly half the cost, with a commercial launch targeted for 2028.
A second product in development targets fusarium wilt in lettuce and berries. Robigo said the treatment increased yields by three times compared with untreated control samples in testing and is targeting a 2029 launch.
The company develops its products using its ARGO platform, which applies synthetic biology to engineer living microbes with traits designed to control crop pests and diseases. Robigo said the platform uses computationally designed active ingredients that silence essential genes in targeted pathogens.
According to the company, ARGO can shorten product development from the industry standard of three to five years to less than 20 months, including computational design, microbe engineering, validation and field testing.
Robigo’s engineered microbes are designed to be applied as a one-time treatment and continuously produce active ingredients throughout the growing season.
“At Robigo, we believe in building on nature’s foundation to engineer biological products that match or exceed the performance of today’s chemistries. Growers shouldn’t have to choose between a product that works and one that’s affordable or sustainable,” said Dr. Andee Wallace, Founder & CEO of Robigo.
Dr. Juergen Eckhardt, EVP and Head of Leaps by Bayer, said the scalability of Robigo’s platform gives the company the potential to address a range of soil-borne crop diseases.
“The scalability of the ARGO™ platform is what sets Robigo apart,” Eckhardt said. “They are not just developing a single product but rather building an engine that can rapidly address diverse soil-borne pathogens across broadacre crops.”
Robigo said its broader pipeline addresses a crop protection market estimated at $10 billion.
