Agrivalle and Ginkgo Bioworks enter multiyear strategic partnership to accelerate next-gen ag biological products

Agrivalle, a leading Brazilian agricultural biologicals company, announced a new partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity. Together, the companies will collaborate on building cutting edge technologies to advance Agrivalle's biological products, including next-gen fertilizers and biocontrol agents.

Ginkgo is bringing its suite of advanced biology tools to the partnership with Agrivalle. Ginkgo will leverage its Strain Optimization Services to improve the efficacy of Agrivalle's biocontrol products. In planned future projects, Ginkgo intends to work with Agrivalle to discover and optimize plant-compatible microbes that can provide crop nutrition, and to engineer organisms that can make compounds to specifically target certain pests. This, in turn, could help Agrivalle enhance the breadth and efficacy of their novel biological products and enable them to sell and license products to major players in agriculture across the globe.

Growers continue to have an increased need for effective and sustainable alternatives to pest control products. Brazil has been home to massive growth in biologicals, thanks in part to regulatory frameworks that encourage innovation in the development of biologicals for sustainable agriculture. The Brazilian government has also made it easier for startups to finance manufacturing plants and to register biological products. This has led the country to become the largest biologicals market for agriculture, growing over 30% a year.

"We are so excited to partner with Agrivalle on getting groundbreaking biological products into the hands of growers," said Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks. "Agrivalle is a vanguard of innovation in Brazil with proven R&D, manufacturing, and sales prowess, and we're thrilled to help them optimize and advance their products as they seek to expand globally."

"Choosing Ginkgo as a strategic partner will enable Agrivalle products to be at the forefront of agricultural excellence," said André Kraide, CEO of Agrivalle. "Having access to Ginkgo's demonstrated technical capabilities and expertise in biologicals R&D will help us take our products to the next level and support growers who seek superior bio-based technology."