Invaio Sciences Secures $50 Million Debt Financing to Develop and Commercialize Agricultural Solutions to Address Climate Change

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Oct 13, 2021, 09:25 ET

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Invaio Sciences, Inc., a Flagship Pioneering company unlocking the potential of natural systems to accelerate the transition to sustainable agriculture to urgently address climate change, has entered into a $50 million loan and security agreement with K2 HealthVentures (K2HV), a healthcare and life sciences-focused investment firm.

The funds will be used to accelerate the research, development and commercialization of Invaio's platforms which are focused on discovering natural active ingredients, developing unique precision delivery systems, and understanding novel modes of action. Invaio's pioneering solutions have the potential to reduce the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, conserve more water, and improve the efficiency of the agricultural food system for the benefit of consumers and the planet.

"Invaio's partnership with K2HV will help us expand our geographic footprint and accelerate the development of breakthrough platforms focused on developing integrated solutions in three market segments: perennials, row crops and vegetable crops," said Ignacio Martinez, co-founder and CEO of Invaio and General Partner at Flagship Pioneering. "Our ambition is to build the most impactful and valuable crop health company on the planet. The world is changing quickly, and food production practices must adapt to keep pace with evolving consumer demands, changing environmental conditions, and increased stress on ecological resources."

"Thankfully, over the last two decades, human disease management has increasingly utilized safer and more effective precision medicine techniques. The agricultural world has not shifted to this paradigm and still suffers from ineffective pest and disease management and harmful consequences to the environment. We believe Invaio's suite of platform technologies is the precision medicine answer for the agriculture world," said Parag Shah, founding managing director and CEO of K2 HealthVentures. "This financing follows our strategy of partnering with pioneering life science technology companies with world class management that aim to deliver solutions for critical global challenges."

About Invaio
Invaio Sciences, Inc. is a Flagship Pioneering company focused on unlocking the potential of natural systems to accelerate the transition to sustainable agriculture to urgently address climate change challenges. Founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2018, Invaio leverages discoveries from diverse fields including human therapeutics, agriculture, environmental science, and advanced manufacturing. For more information, please visit www.invaio.com or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.

About Flagship Pioneering:
Flagship Pioneering conceives, creates, resources, and develops first-in-category bioplatform companies to transform human health and sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, the firm has, through its Flagship Labs unit, applied its unique hypothesis-driven innovation process to originate and foster more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in over $212 billion in aggregate value. To date, Flagship has deployed over $2.5 billion in capital toward the founding and growth of its pioneering companies alongside more than $19 billion of follow-on investments from other institutions. The current Flagship ecosystem comprises 42 transformative companies, including Axcella Health (NASDAQ: AXLA), Codiak BioSciences (NASDAQ: CDAK) Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DNLI), Evelo Biosciences (NASDAQ: EVLO), Foghorn Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FHTX), Indigo Ag, Kaleido Biosciences (NASDAQ: KLDO), Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), Rubius Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RUBY), Sana Biotechnology (NASDAQ: SANA), Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB), and Sigilon Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SGTX).

About K2 HealthVentures
K2 HealthVentures is an alternative investment firm focused on providing flexible, long-term financing solutions to innovative private and public companies in the life sciences and healthcare industries. The investment team comprises collaborative, experienced professionals with diverse backgrounds in finance and operations, as well as deep domain knowledge across various healthcare sectors. A uniquely flexible, permanent capital structure enables the firm to provide creative, adaptive financing solutions and meet the evolving capital needs of its portfolio companies as they grow. K2HV is driven by dual goals of Profit and Purpose — aiming to fuel the growth of innovative companies that will ultimately improve the lives of patients and giving a percentage of investment profits back to underserved areas in healthcare. www.k2hv.com

Invaio Media Contact:
Julie Borlaug
[email protected]

SOURCE Invaio Sciences