Thomas Lyons 
Minagro, a company that specializes in developing high-quality green products for crop care, has announced that it has raised €1.2 million in financing under new management. The funding round was led by Minagro’s management team, with participation from Invest.BW and K&E. This renewed structure will enable Minagro to operate as a standalone company and accelerate the development of its greener agricultural ingredients portfolio with new technologies.
Since 2019, Minagro has been developing high-quality green ingredients for crop care based on sustainable raw materials. The company’s 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.
Minagro plans to reinforce its research and development (R&D) assets in bio-based and specialty chemistry and develop collaboration projects to widen its agrochemical ingredient product line. The company has already initiated collaborations with different regional innovation clusters (Wagralim and Greenwin) and research centers, such as UCLouvain, HE Condorcet, and Celabor.
Arnold de Maere, the managing director of Minagro, said that the company is embarking on a new journey built upon its achievements over the last four years. He added, “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. 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 societal transitions to sustainable food systems. For agrochemical companies, this means developing safer and more efficient agrochemicals for conventional and organic farmers. Minagro has said that its 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 rate of 15.6% and 12.1% to reach $11.3 billion and $6.5 billion, respectively, in 2027. The global crop protection chemical markets value was approximately $63.7 billion in 2020. Market drivers include the need for food safety and more sustainable practices, advocated by consumers and regulatory policies.
Minagro’s announcement is a positive development for the agricultural industry as it moves towards more sustainable practices. The company’s focus on developing green and safer ingredients for crop care will contribute positively to the industry’s efforts to meet the challenges of the EU’s Farm to Fork initiative. With the biopesticides and biostimulants markets expected to grow significantly in the coming years, Minagro’s innovative products are well-positioned to meet the needs of the industry and contribute to a more sustainable future.
