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Pasteuria Bioscience Raises $5.3M in Series B
Alachua, FL, May 2, 2007 -- Pasteuria Bioscience, a Florida based agricultural biotech
company, announced today that it has completed the $ 5.3 million closing of a series B
financing round led by LSP BioVentures who joined existing Series A investors,
Advantage Capital and Gordon River Capital.
Pasteuria Bioscience has developed a cost-effective process for the in vitro production of
Pasteuria bacteria, a naturally occurring predator of nematodes. Long regarded as one of
the last unmet needs in modern crop protection, Pasteuria has developed an efficacious,
environmentally friendly solution for control of plant parasitic nematodes. This ability to
produce Pasteuria sp. in vitro will result in economically significant control of plant
parasitic nematodes in a variety of crops and applications in the United States.
"We are excited to have the funding necessary as we transition our products and company
from research and development to sales and marketing. We are looking forward to the
value that both the existing investors and LSP BioVentures will bring as enter into this
new phase of the company's growth,"said Kelly Smith, CEO of Pasteuria Bioscience.
"We value their belief in our company and our ability to provide a solution for a long
standing problem in agriculture production."
Jorg Riesmeier, General Partner at LSP BioVentures and new Board member of Pasteuria
Bioscience, commented: "We are very excited about leading the Series B in Pasteuria
Bioscience. The company has done a fantastic job of advancing the ability to produce
Pasteuria sp. in vitro, and we look forward to being part of the team as they begin the
transition to production and marketing of their products."
"Pasteuria is nature's way of controlling nematodes," said Tim Cockshutt, managing
director with Advantage Capital, a current investor. "We can prevent nematodes from
destroying crops without damaging the overall environment in the slightest."
Current investor Richard Molloy of Gordon River Capital looks forward to the next phase
of Pasteuria Bioscience's growth. "It is exciting to see a company like Pasteuria
Bioscience, with the combination of a strong team and great science, take this next step
towards reaching the market with a long awaited solution to the problem of effective
nematode control."
About Pasteuria Bioscience
Pasteuria Bioscience, founded in 2003, is an agricultural biotech company focusing on
the need for reducing plant parasitic nematodes in agricultural and turf markets. The
method developed at Pasteuria Bioscience provides for sustainable and efficacious
control of nematodes in a variety of crops and markets.
About LSP BioVentures
LSP BioVentures is a $100 million fund launched in June 2006, focused on early to midstaged
companies in the areas of agriculture, food & nutrition, health & wellness, biofuels
and platform technologies supporting companies in these market segments,. LSP
BioVentures is the fourth fund under the LSP Umbrella. LSP, providing private equity
financing to early- to mid-stage life-science companies in Europe and the US. With $500
million under management and offices in Amsterdam, Munich and Boston, LSP has over
a decade of experience as specialist life-science investors. For more information about
the LSP Group, please visit the website at www.lspvc.com.
About Advantage Capital
Advantage Capital (www.advantagecap.com) is a venture capital and private equity
firm focused on early-stage companies and other investments supporting state and local
economic development. With offices in Louisiana, Missouri, New York and other states,
Advantage has raised more than $750 million in institutional private equity since 1992
and invested in companies located in geographic areas underserved by traditional venture
capital.
About Gordon River Capital
Gordon River Capital is an affiliate of Florida Gulfshore Capital, a Naples, FL based
private investment firm that works with exceptional entrepreneurs and management
teams to grow promising businesses into category leaders. The firm makes investments in
companies involved in the development and sale of consumer, industrial and medical
products and services. For more information, visit www.gulfshorecap.com.
For further information please contact:
Pasteuria Bioscience
Alachua, FL
Tel : (386) 462-0008
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