3Bar Raises $2m Seed Round for Biologicals With Unique Delivery
Summary
Columbus-based biologicals producer 3Bar has raised a $2 million Seed Round lead by Rev1 Ventures, an Ohio-focused early-stage VC with a focus on healthcare, materials, agribusiness, and cleantech. 3Bar creates yield-boosting biologicals delivered in a unique container that allows the user to activate the microbes just before application, increasing the effectiveness of the product, according to CEO Bruce Caldwell, who founded 3Bar in 2013 after seven years heading R&D at Miracle-Gro. “For every other product that is relying on living microorganisms in the market today, that fermentation happened back at a facility months ago.” He says that though the microbes will stay active for a time, they start to decline eventually and growers have no way of knowing wether what they are applying is still effective. “What the larger companies are doing is limiting themselves to a few common species that form spores so that they have some chance… I’m convinced that this is the achilles heel of the industry,” said Caldwell, who seeks to change the mixed reputation of biologics on the whole. “We made an early investment in 3Bar because we saw the promise of their research-backed offering and their unwavering commitment to providing farmers with a solution that works,” said Dave Bergeron, of Rev1 Ventures.