BiocSol, a Université catholique de Louvain spin-off specialized in crop protection solutions, has secured €5.2 million (US$5.6 million) in equity.

The funding round was led by Agri Investment Fund and VIVES Partners, with support from regional Belgian investors invest.bw and IMBC and Sopartec sa.

The funding will allow the company to expand its team, broaden its R&D pipeline, and kickstart the regulatory processes for its biofungicides. BiocSol’s first biopesticide products targeting late and early blight in potatoes, and downy mildew in lettuces and grapes have already been tested in real field conditions.

Simon Caulier, founder of BiocSol in December 2023, is chief technical officer (CTO). He holds a PhD from Earth and Life Institute of UCLouvain, specializing in microbiology applied to crop protection. His work focuses on microbial-derived approaches to practical application for a cost-effective and resilient biocontrol of pests and diseases.

“BiocSol is a startup spinoff from UCLouvain – a leading Belgium university – backed up by 10 years of R&D performed in the labs of Plant Health (SAVE) and Microbiology (MIAE) respectively headed by Claude Bragard and Jacques Mahillon,” Caulier told New AG International. “Our initial idea came from both PI looking for alternatives to the massive use of chemical inputs, especially in potato and cereal crops.”

Caulier explained that by using microbial substances rather than microbes, BiocSol aims to provide farmers with biosolutions that are effective in the field, reliable, affordable, compatible with existing agricultural practices (organic or conventional), and ensuring minimal impact on environment and biodiversity.

Denis Payen is the CEO of BiocSol with more than 25 years in the plant protection business, with previous positions from project manager to business developer and CEO. Payen came to biologicals six years ago, working first on biostimulants in another startup for five years, and now focusing on biocontrol technologies.

“The pathosystems targeted (meaning pathogen + plant host), here mildew agents (Oomycetes), is a main differentiation factor on the plant protection market,” noted Payen.

Payen said R&D at BiocSol was performed through several research projects headed by Bragard, Anne Legrève and Mahillon. As part of those research projects, Caulier wanted to bring the research further with university support. With three years of funding from the Walloon Region (South French-speaking part of Belgium), Caulier aimed to develop two biofungicide products and a R&D platform.

“The fundings allowed a first industrial scale-up and proofs of concept in independent field trials done by renowned contract research organizations such as Wageningen University & Research,” said Payen. “With all those results, BiocSol was funded and started to raise seed funding to expand the team and allow for the registration process.”

Although BiocSol products are not available yet, this seed round intends to build the registration file for two products in EU and North America in the coming years, and with a first approach in Latin America on grapes.