ArkeaBio, a leading ag-biotech startup developing a vaccine to reduce livestock methane emissions, announced the closing of a $26.5 million Series A funding round. This funding round was led by current investor Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) and additional investors, including The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, AgriZeroNZ, Rabo Ventures, Overview Capital, and The51 Food & AgTech Fund.
ArkeaBio’s vaccine will offer an innovative, cost-effective, and scalable solution for reducing the world’s livestock methane emissions, which currently generate the equivalent of 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually and represent 6% of annual greenhouse gas emissions.
ArkeaBio R&D results have garnered substantial attention from investors for advancing the inaugural methane-reducing vaccine, designed for safe and rapid implementation within existing on-farm practices. The funding raised in this Series A financing will play a pivotal role in expanding the vaccine’s research, development, and deployment, including large-scale field trials and engagement along the supply chain.
ArkeaBio is dedicated to collaborative efforts with industry partners, regulatory authorities, and environmental organizations to bring a transformative solution to market.
KEY QUOTES:
“Reducing methane emissions from the agricultural sector is one of the most pressing challenges in today’s fight against climate change. ArkeaBio’s approach using innovative vaccine technologies will create effective and massively scalable solutions to reduce on-farm methane emissions, leaving them well-positioned to redefine the agricultural landscape in the years to come.”
- Chris Rivest, Chairman of the Board at ArkeaBio and partner at Breakthrough Energy Ventures
“We are thankful for the financial support, confidence, and trust of our investors. This funding will accelerate the development of our vaccine-based solution to meet a pressing global problem. To echo the sentiments of The Grantham Foundation: ‘climate change is the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced. It is the race of our lives.’ This capital raise allows us to continue to create the tools necessary for farmers to achieve globally relevant reductions in livestock methane emissions.”
- Colin South, ArkeaBio CEO
“Enteric methane emissions are responsible for around 10% of global warming. Enteric methane emissions are also very hard to abate. New technologies can help to prevent accelerating methane emissions from the agricultural sector. We are excited to support ArkeaBio’s development of methane vaccines for ruminants on their pathway to commercialization.”
– The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment
“A methane vaccine for ruminant animals is internationally recognised as the ‘holy grail’ to deliver methane reduction at low cost and mass scale. It could be one of the best long-term options to really shift the dial on agricultural emissions and a powerful tool globally. We’re really pleased to be supporting ArkeaBio and its innovative approach to develop this important solution.”
– AgriZeroNZ
“As a cooperative bank, we want to future-proof our global food system by supporting and offering solutions that have the potential to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture. In our search for solutions that can lower the footprint of livestock farming and be applicable across all feeding systems, ArkeaBio emerged as a game-changing solution. Their cost-effective, easy-to-deploy and high-quality vaccines have the potential to be a critical tool as part of the broader set of solutions that enable the food systems transition.”
– Rabo Ventures
