Terramera raises $45 million for its technology to reduce the use of chemicals in agriculture

Terramera, a Canadian company selling bio-pesticides and seed treatments to reduce the use of chemicals in agriculture, has raised $45 million in its latest round of financing.

The round was led by strategic investor Ospraie Ag Science and the company's previous backer, Seed2Growth Ventures.

Led by Carl Casale, a former Monsanto executive, Ospraie Ag Science has backed several manufacturers of bio-pesticides and organic crop management products including Marrone BioInnovations and Agrospheres.

Vancouver-based Terramera first came to prominence with a line of Neem-based pesticides that are sold in retailers across North America (including Target). That product targets bedbugs, mites and other household pests and funguses.

The company's latest product is Actigate, and capital from its latest round will be used to boost research and development and sales and marketing, according to a statement.

"We are on the path to reduce global synthetic chemical loads in agriculture by 80% by 2030 with Actigate," said Karn Manhas, Terramera founder and chief executive, in a statement.

According to the company, Actigate increases the efficacy of both biopesticides and traditional chemical pesticides to reduce the use of chemicals in . farming.

"Terramera's Actigate platform shifts the paradigm, making biopesticides more effective and competitive," said Casale in a statement. "There is also a huge opportunity to create value and reinvent conventional inputs to have greater impact, while reducing cost, waste and effects on the environment."

The funding comes just a few months after Terramera's acquisition of the technology and intellectual property portfolio of Exosect Limited.

That patent portfolio, which includes a range of compositions designed to improve delivery of organic and chemical seed treatments seems to have been a boon to Terramera's own technology development.

"The acquisition of this IP portfolio will open up new opportunities and complement Terramera's proprietary Actigate Targeted Performance technology," Manhas, said at the time. "The IP portfolio enhances development of safer and more effective plant protection products, enabling our vision of creating a world with affordable, clean food for everyone."