Micropep Technologies announced a US$29 million Series B funding round along with its proprietary discovery platform, Krisalix.

The company, with operations in the U.S. and France, has developed a proprietary AI-powered discovery platform for micropeptides, which are short protein molecules naturally produced by plant cells and have an infinite number of applications.

Micropep plans to use the Series B funding to accelerate go-to-market strategy through partnerships, complete the regulatory studies of the first biofungicide molecule, and expand its pipeline of micropeptide active ingredients on the Krisalix platform.

The round was led by Zebra Impact Ventures, and BPI Green Tech Investment. All existing investors, Fall Line Capital, FMC Ventures, Sofinnova Partners, Supernova Invest, and IRDI Capital Investissement also participated, bringing the company’s total funding to more than $51.8 million.

Micropep’s proprietary discovery platform
Micropep unveiled its proprietary discovery platform, Krisalix, along with this round of funding. Krisalix enables the company to discover new micropeptide-based active ingredients much faster and more efficiently than traditional methods. The company said Krisalix combines proprietary micropeptide design algorithms with a unique suite of bioassays to measure efficacy, stability and production feasibility. Together, these capabilities enable Micropep to rapidly discover the most promising micropeptide molecules for crop protection.

“This new round of funding, happening in a particularly complex financing environment, is a great mark of recognition of both the exceptional results we achieved so far at Micropep and the future potential of our micropeptide discovery platform and first active ingredients,” said Thomas Laurent, chief executive officer and co-founder of Micropep. “We are uniquely positioned to provide a whole new category of sustainable active ingredients based on micropeptides to the crop protection industry, working hand-in-hand with selected partners at different stages of the product development lifecycle. This new round of financing will help us strengthen our existing relationships and build new strategic alliances with leading R&D, manufacturing, commercial and distribution companies in our industry. We believe this is the only sustainable way to scale a company like ours and bring our micropeptide active ingredients to as many farmers as possible worldwide.”

The company said it will also continue its research efforts in France, exploring innovative ways to grow its proprietary discovery platform and enhance its testing capabilities to maximize impact.

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