Bayer Joins Greentown Labs' Corporate Partner Network

World-leading life science company will engage directly with climatetech startups to advance agriculture technology

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May 26, 2021, 08:30 ET

SOMERVILLE, Mass., May 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Greentown Labs, the largest climatetech startup incubator in North America, today announced Bayer as the newest member of its growing corporate partner network. Bayer, headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany, is a multinational life science company with core competencies in the areas of health care and agriculture.

Sustainable development and inclusive growth are core elements of Bayer's corporate strategy and vision: "health for all, hunger for none." Bayer's commitment to inclusive growth means it is providing more people in all regions of the world with access to health care and food security, and developing solutions to environmental protection with a focus on decarbonization, climate adaptation, and biodiversity preservation.

Bayer has outlined target sustainability goals that are aligned with the Paris Agreement and has set out to decarbonize and achieve a net zero target for its supply chain by 2050. More specifically, the company is also reducing the global greenhouse gas footprint of crop production and the environmental impact of plant protection products by 30 percent by 2030.

"We're thrilled to join Greentown Labs as a Gigawatt Partner and are eager to engage with its entrepreneurial ecosystem," said Phil Taylor, Open Innovation Lead for Bayer's Crop Science Division. "Through our partnership, Bayer will gain access to Greentown's global network of early-stage startups that are creating innovations to sustainably advance agriculture. We're particularly excited to connect with entrepreneurs working in crop science and plant-based proteins."

Research shows the agricultural technology (agtech) market is estimated to grow from $13.8 billion in 2020 to $22 billion in 2025, with hardware expected to drive this growth.¹ In order to ensure this growth is done in a sustainable manner, climatetech innovation in the agtech space must be scaled and integrated into the world's largest organizations—like Bayer—that are leading this growth.

"Greentown Labs is proud to have Bayer joining our network of corporate partners and can't wait to connect its team of experts with our entrepreneurs working in the agtech space," said Dr. Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs. "We know the agtech industry has enormous potential to mitigate and combat climate change, and we believe fostering mutually beneficial partnerships between our entrepreneurs and corporate partners is a critical piece to accelerating climate action."

Greentown Labs has a decade-long track record of supporting climatetech entrepreneurs as they scale technologies and sees meaningful opportunities to advance agtech innovation around food and soil, digital tools and monitoring, and farmer resilience and equity. The incubator is currently home to more than a dozen agtech-focused startups. Learn more about them here.

About Greentown Labs
As the largest climatetech startup incubator in North America, Greentown Labs brings together startups, corporates, investors, policymakers, and many others with a focus on scaling climate solutions. Driven by the mission of providing startups the resources, knowledge, connections, and equipment they need to thrive, Greentown Labs offers lab space, shared office space, a machine shop, an electronics lab, software and business resources, and a large network of corporate customers, investors, and more. With its headquarters in Somerville, Mass. and a recently opened incubator in Houston, Texas, Greentown Labs is home to more than 140 startups and has supported more than 340 startups since the incubator's founding in 2011. These startups have collectively created more than 6,500 direct jobs and have raised more than $1.2 billion in funding. For more information, please visit www.greentownlabs.com or Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Greentown Labs Media Contact:
Julia Travaglini
VP of Marketing & Communications
[email protected]
603-867-3657

About Bayer
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to help people and planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to drive sustainable development and generate a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2020, the Group employed around 100,000 people and had sales of 41.4 billion euros. R&D expenses before special items amounted to 4.9 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.

Bayer Media Contact:
Charla Lord
Media – Crop Science
[email protected]
1 314-343-7196

¹ https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/inov_a_00208

SOURCE Greentown Labs