Tel Aviv-based ICL, a global specialty minerals company, and Evogene Ltd., a Rehovot-based computational biology company, announced a multi-year strategic collaboration agreement between ICL and Evogene subsidiary Lavie Bio Ltd.
Lavie Bio's agrobiology expertise and cutting-edge technology combined with ICL's knowledge of fertilizer use and farmer needs, seeks to facilitate the development of new and innovative products for the agricultural industry.
The collaboration between the Israeli firms involves ICL's investment of $10 million in Lavie Bio under a SAFE (simple agreement for future participation). The investment will be made through the ICL Planet Startup Hub, a platform used by ICL to invest and collaborate with innovative companies in the foodTech and agriTech fields.
El presidente de Innovative Ag Solutions de ICL, Elad Aharonson, destacó el compromiso de la empresa en la creación de soluciones para los desafíos de sostenibilidad. “La colaboración demuestra el compromiso de ICL de llevar al mercado tecnologías nuevas y sostenibles para nuestros clientes. También nos proporciona una sólida plataforma para entrar en el mercado de los productos agrobiológicos, que consideramos altamente complementario a nuestro actual negocio agrícola. Tras una exhaustiva evaluación de las capacidades técnicas de Lavie Bio, esperamos con entusiasmo colaborar con ellos para llevar al mercado mundial productos agrobiológicos novedosos muy necesarios.”
Ofer Haviv, President and CEO of Evogene and Chairman of the Board of Lavie Bio welcomed the collaboration and noted that “together, we have significant potential to develop novel ag-biologicals, which are expected to allow for the improvement of global food quality, agricultural sustainability and productivity, especially in a time of food scarcity, high prices and macroeconomic uncertainty. We look forward to working closely with our new partners in bringing improved solutions to farmers worldwide, while advancing Lavie Bio to the next stage in its development.”
