Lucent BioSciences receives $4.2M investment to bring carbon-neutral fertilizers to market

Lucent BioSciences, Inc. (Lucent) closed $4.2M in investments from Emmertech, Amathaon, SVG Ventures, WUTIF Capital, Vantec/eFund and Vancouver-based angel investors.

Lucent is driven by accelerating the transition of agriculture to sustainability. Lucent Bio has developed a novel patent-pending fertilizer for agriculture that uses cellulose fiber as a delivery agent. The product improves yield and soil health, is carbon neutral, non-polluting, and sustainable.

Lucent is working with food processing companies to upcycle their low value cellulose fibers into a high value fertilizer and seed treatment. In addition, the company is collaborating with several large fertilizer companies to develop custom fertilizer solutions from its patented cellulose-based nutrient delivery technology.

Lucent's line of micronutrient fertilizers helps growers produce more and healthier crops, and contribute to regenerative agricultural practices by improving soil fertility.

The investment allows Lucent to accelerate their development of sustainable fertilizers and seed treatments, expand manufacturing, bolster commercialization and prepare a Series A investment round in 2022 to fund further expansion.

"We are motivated by developing solutions to mitigate climate impact on global food security", says CEO Michael Riedijk, "Over the last 18 months, we have achieved key milestones in R&D, scale-up engineering, field trials and commercialization. We're now working on increasing manufacturing in collaboration with partners and getting the product in the hands of farmers to grow better crops sustainably".

"Emmertech is thrilled to be a part of the Lucent team", says Emmertech Managing Director Kyle Scott, "We actively look for new technologies that help our agriculture ecosystem increase yields and decrease waste. Lucent hits the intersection of both. Most importantly, we became enamored with the team's vision to show farmers can increase yield while playing a critical role in helping combat climate change. We are excited to see this team bring exciting, sustainable products to the market."

"The European Green Deal and associated Farm to Fork Strategy of the European Union is putting unprecedented pressure on the agricultural industry and the food supply chain. We scout for solutions globally that will enable the implementation at scale, while at the same time increasing the returns for farmers", says Borris Foerster, Managing Partner at Amathaon Capital. "So for us it was an easy decision to back the extremely dedicated and competent team behind Lucent and support their plan to bring highly efficient and organic micronutrient fertilizers to the European market."