Ascribe Bio has closed an oversubscribed US$12 million Series A financing round, co-led by Corteva, through its Corteva Catalyst platform, and Acre Venture Partners.

Ascribe is an Ithaca, NY-based agricultural technology company developing natural crop protection solutions. It was founded in 2017 based on research from the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University.

The company’s technology uses beneficial small molecules called ascarosides found naturally in the soil microbiome. “Plants and microbes have evolved side-by-side, and small signaling molecules like ascarosides play a critical role in mediating interactions between them,” notes the company. The funding advances this small-molecule technology platform and supports the upcoming commercial launch of Phytalix, a “revolutionary” biofungicide.

With this financing, Ascribe will ramp up manufacturing and support early commercialization activities, ahead of Phytalix’s first regulatory approval expected later this year in Brazil, with U.S. and other markets to follow.

In addition to financing from Corteva and Acre Venture Partners, the funding also included participation from new and existing investors including Syngenta Group Ventures, Trailhead Capital, Silver Blue LLC, Cultivation Capital, and The Yield Lab.