Venture capital-backed agtech firm Vestaron moves HQ to Research Triangle Park

Vestaron Corporation, which earlier this year raised $40 million in venture capital, is giving the Triangle’s growing agtech sector a boost, moving its headquarters to the region from Michigan.

 

Vestaron says it wanted “to be closer to the pulse of the U.S. crop protection industry.”

 

Its backers include Novo Holdings, which is owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and is part of Novo Group, which cindlues Novo Nordisk and Novozymes. Both firms have large operations in North Carolina.

 

The new office is located at The Frontier RTP and will be home for Vestaron’s corporate leadership, operations, and marketing. And Vestaron is hiring, seeking:

• Director, Regulatory Affairs

• Product Development Manager

 

Its former headquarters in Kalamazoo “remains in place for research and development,” the company said.
 

A 14-year-old company, the move follows the hiring of a new CEO, Anna Rath, 18 months ago. Rath has an extensive background in agtech.

 

“Vestaron is at the forefront of a revolutionary transition in crop protection, from an industry based predominantly on small molecule synthetics to one where biologic molecules with proven modes of action as well as great safety and environmental attributes will play a major role.,” Rath said when the firm closed on its new funding.

 

“This transition is being driven by the same factors that drove a similar transition in pharma – slowing innovation, increasing late stage failures and thus development costs – as well as factors specific to crop protection including resistance of pests to existing solutions, environmental and worker safety issues, and consumer awareness of and focus on food safety and quality.”

 

In the HQ announcement, she added: “The work Vestaron is conducting addresses three key points critical to the future of crop protection; controlling pests resistant to current products, environmental and worker safety concerns, and consumer mindfulness about how their food is produced.”

 

Vestaron focuses on bioinsecticides and offers a line of products under the Spear name. Other products are under development.

 

“Vestaron is at an exciting crossroad,” Rath said of the company’s move. “We have in place the key executives, field staff, manufacturing and commercial capabilities to market and meet demands of the Spear product line.”