Gent, Belgium, November 4, 2024

Aphea.Bio, a pioneer in microbial solutions for sustainable agriculture, has secured € 1.9 million in funding to explore the full commercial potential of its biostimulant ‘INITIΛ by Aphea.Bio™ ‘, initially aimed at the maize market. This follows the successful launch of its first biostimulant ΛCTIV by Aphea.Bio™ for wheat. The INITIA by Aphea.Bio™ prototype has already demonstrated robust efficacy in maize field trials in the EU, and Aphea.Bio aims to extend its commercial potential to key markets in the US and Brazil. The VLAIO funding will accelerate this effort.

Steven Vandenabeele, CTO Aphea.Bio, commented: “We’re excited to receive this substantial funding from VLAIO. It allows us to expand and maximize the impact of INITIΛ by Aphea.Bio™. Not only will this contribute to the shift towards more sustainable agriculture, this will also further validate the successful R&D strategies that Aphea.Bio applies in the development of biological solutions.

INITIΛ by Aphea.Bio™: a Biostimulant for Maize

INITIΛ by Aphea.Bio™ is designed for maize seed treatment, enhancing germination, early vigour, root biomass, nutrient use efficiency (nitrogen and phosphorus), ultimately leading to higher grain yields. Developed in various formulations, the seed coating prototype has consistently demonstrated yield increases under both reduced and full fertilization conditions. Additionally, INITIΛ by Aphea.Bio™ contributes positively to the environmental sustainability by restoring soil health, aligning with regenerative agricultural practices.

Expanding Market Reach

After three successful seasons of field trials in the EU, it has become clear that INITIΛ by Aphea.Bio™ has even greater potential. With VLAIO’s support, Aphea.Bio plans to expand its reach on three levels:

1. EU Positioning: Further refining the product's performance as a maize seed coating in EU field trials, with the aim of accurately positioning INITIΛ by Aphea.Bio ™ for European farmers.

2. US and Brazil Trials: Exploring seed coating and alternative application methods in the US and Brazil to specifically address the markets of these maize super producers.

3. Broader Crop Applications: Expanding INITIΛ by Aphea.Bio™ 's application beyond maize to other broad-acre crops, as well as exploring its potential in the fruits and vegetables sector.

Isabel Vercauteren, CEO Aphea.Bio, added: “We are eager to explore the full market potential of INITIΛ by Aphea.Bio™. Success will involve solid product positioning for the EU maize market, gaining access to the vast US and Brazilian markets, and extending the product label to a broader range of crops. This progress will further support Aphea.Bio’s pioneering position in agrobiologicals globally and will significantly enhance our business footprint in the field of biostimulants.”

About Aphea.Bio

Aphea.Bio is a fully integrated microbial product development company dedicated to food security and ensuring a safe and healthy food chain and is providing novel, science-based solutions to build the agriculture of the future: sustainable, reliable, and profitable. Located in Gent, Belgium, we have a highly dedicated and qualified team of scientist and industry experts. Based on our unique high throughput APEX® R&D platform utilising the untapped microbial space, we have been able to build a broad biostimulant and biocontrol pipeline based on naturally occurring micro-organisms.

We believe that with a fresh and sincere spirit of innovation, result-driven science, and the courage to go off the beaten track, there is fertile ground to develop efficacious biological solutions to help complement or partially replace products in the major chemical indications.

To learn more, visit www.aphea.bio or follow us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/aphea-bio.

Aphea Bio
Charlotte Klank
Head of Regulatory Affairs | Communications
[email protected]


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This document may contain forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as 'expect', 'would', 'will', 'potential', 'plans', 'prospects', 'estimated', 'aiming', 'on track' and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. For Aphea.Bio, such risks and uncertainties include risks relating to legal proceedings, regulatory approvals, new product development, increasing competition, customer credit risk, general economic and market conditions, compliance and remediation, intellectual property rights, implementation of organizational changes, impairment of intangible assets, consumer perceptions of genetically modified crops and organisms or crop protection chemicals, climatic variations, fluctuations in exchange rates and/or commodity prices, single source supply arrangements, political uncertainty, natural disasters, and breaches of data security or other disruptions of information technology. Aphea.Bio assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors.

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