Advantage Capital announced a $2.94 million investment in Las Vegas-based Cultiva, LLC. The investment, made in connection with the Nevada New Markets Jobs Act, comes at a time when critical resources are needed to help shore up businesses around the country affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
The investment will allow the company to expand research & development as well as ramp up production. Cultiva also intends to hire several key new employees later this year, including manufacturing jobs to keep up with demand for its product.
Cultiva produces a proprietary, food-grade biofilm technology, known as SureSeal™, which acts as a cuticle supplement on plants and enables farmers around the world to increase marketable yields on their crops. Although many businesses in the state of Nevada have suspended operations, Cultiva is considered an essential business and continues to operate with social distancing measures in place.
“This is an important time in our company’s expansion,” said Cultiva’s CEO, Luis Hernández. “Our product allows farmers to improve crop quality and preserve shelf life. Cultiva finds itself in the key role of supplying growers with an essential input product as they keep our world fed during the pandemic and beyond. This investment also allows us to continue to manufacture our product, provide farmers with critical supplies and bring jobs to the area.”
Cultiva, founded in 2011, sells its products both in the United States and internationally. The company continues to develop products in new markets by engaging in collaboration initiatives with research institutions and companies.
“Advantage Capital has a long history of investing in businesses based in underserved communities in Nevada and across the country,” said Abhi Chandrasekhara of Advantage Capital. “We have partnered with Cultiva since the company’s early days and are excited about the strong growth trajectory for its products around the world. We are excited to deepen our relationship through this additional investment and continue supporting businesses like Cultiva nationwide.”
About Advantage Capital
Advantage Capital provides financing to established and emerging companies located in communities underserved by conventional sources of capital. Since 1992, the firm has invested more than $3 billion in companies from a diverse array of industry sectors and has helped support more than 50,000 jobs. Learn more at www.advantagecap.com, or via Twitter or LinkedIn.
About Cultiva
Cultiva® produces a proprietary, food-grade biofilm technology, known as SureSeal™, which acts as a cuticle supplement on plants and has applications in agriculture for growers around the world. Cultiva products provide growers with solutions to suppress fruit cracking, enhance quality traits of harvested fruits and vegetables and extend the marketable shelf life of high-value crops. All current Cultiva products are exempt from U.S. EPA-approvals or registrations due to their safe, natural and soft nature and their classification as non-pesticide products.