NewLeaf raises total capital to $54M, appoints former DuPont president 

Since we last spoke with Ag Showcase alum NewLeaf Symbiotics, the company has taken on new territory and launched its technology, Terrasym™.  This technology line includes two new products, Terrasym 401 for soybean and 402 for peanut.  NewLeaf was founded in 2011 and presented at the 2012 Ag Innovation Showcase. The company has since made major strides in doing what they set out to do: using microbes in nature called M-trophs to boost plants’ nutrient uptake, strength, stability, and tolerance of environmental stresses.   

From early days and since presenting at the Ag Showcase, NewLeaf has raised a total of $54M in investment capital. The company is currently working on several important collaborations with large global ag companies.   NewLeaf’s successful track record has garnered attention of experts across the ag tech world including Paul Schickler, former president of DuPont Pioneer, who has joined the NewLeaf Board of Directors. According to Tom Laurita, CEO of NewLeaf, the company benefits from the connections and industry experience that Schickler brings to the table at a moment when “NewLeaf has critical mass and momentum in  the ag sector…central to the growth strategies of all the major players.” The company has also recently increased its technical expertise and capacity by appointing a new Vice President Manufacturing (Aaron Kelley, Ph.D), Chief Counsel (Molly Edwards who joins from Monsanto),Biotic Stress Team Lead (Allison Jack, Ph.D.) and a new Field Biologist (Dayna Collett, Ph.D.). 

Connections like these remain crucial in the ag tech world where knowledge is as powerful as capital. NewLeaf’s experience at Ag Showcase, was “quite meaningful,” Laurita says, because while still a relatively young company  NewLeaf was welcomed into the community that showcase represents.  

 Learn more about NewLeaf Symbiotics’ success at their new website here.  

📅 2012

👤 Tom Laurita

💼 NewLeaf Symbiotics

📍 St. Louis, Missouri