BioinFood secures $1.6M from Finep to turn yeast into a platform for biofertilizers

Brazilian biotech BioinFood has received 7.9 million reais (about $1.6M) in funding from innovation agency Finep to develop yeast-based biofertilizers, biostimulants and biocontrol products, AgFeed reported on October 7.

Biological inputs are usually made from bacteria and fungi. BioinFood, based in Campinas, São Paulo state, wants to use yeast as a production platform for plant-active molecules instead. Co-founder and chief scientific and commercial officer Gleidson Teixeira said yeasts need few nutrients, which can cut scale-up costs, and are easier to engineer genetically than many bacteria or fungi.

Early lab tests with a yeast formulation grown on sugarcane molasses showed an effect on seed germination, indicating the target molecule kept its biological activity, Teixeira said. The three-year Finep project will improve the strain with AI-assisted metabolic engineering, scale up in pilot bioreactors, then validate in greenhouse and field trials. Startup Conatus Ambiental is the partner for early plant testing.

BioinFood does not plan to become a bioinput manufacturer. Its model is R&D as a service, co-developing products with input companies. It is in talks with potential partners but has not signed a deal.

Founded in 2018, the company has 15 staff and more than 20 client projects in eight countries. Brazil’s biologicals pipeline keeps widening, from yeast platforms to GMO-made biological inputs approved by CTNBio.

Source: AgFeed