Rabo Ventures and Value8 invest in crop protection firm Ceradis

Rabo Ventures and Value8 jointly announce an investment in Ceradis, an innovative company developing crop protection products. Ceradis, a spin off from Wageningen University, develops patented fungicides that contain up to 80% less harmful components than conventional alternatives.

Ceradis has developed a portfolio of innovative crop protection products, applicable to a broad range of fruit and vegetable crops (including potato, tomato, grape, banana and pineapple). The products developed by Ceradis are competitive against more harmful conventional crop protection products with regards to effectiveness and price, but significantly reduce chemical residues on fruit and vegetables and pollution of farmland.

Value8 has been an investor in Ceradis since early 2010. Rabo Ventures is entering as a new shareholder, as part of a 4.5 million euro investment round.

In the coming years, regulations on crop protection chemicals will become more strict and harmful products will increasingly be replaced by environmental friendly alternatives.  Rabo Ventures and Value8 believe that Ceradis is perfectly placed to capitalize on this trend.

Koen van Engelen, Director at Rabo Ventures said: “We are impressed with the deep knowledge base of Ceradis and the products the company has developed. Ceradis is in a unique position to bridge the gap between biological products that often still lack in performance and the more effective yet polluting conventional crop protection products. The company's focus on sustainable agriculture products provides an excellent fit with the investment philosophy of Rabo Ventures and Rabobank”.

Wim van der Krieken, CEO at Ceradis said: “We are excited about Rabo Ventures joining the shareholder base of Ceradis. We expect Rabo Ventures to significantly contribute to the success of Ceradis by way of using its vast international global network in food and agriculture. In addition the new capital will enable the company to accelerate its growth”.

Kee Koopmans, Investment Director at Value8 said: “With the additional capital and the addition of Rabo Ventures in the shareholder base, the company makes a next step in its development towards becoming a leading company in this field. We are confident that Ceradis is well positioned to become a leading player in the field of crop protection development, which is an objective that would be welcomed by our shareholders”.