Pluton Biosciences just inked a deal with Bayer’s Global Climate Change group to find microbes that pull greenhouse gasses from the air and turn them into fertilizer. Financial terms were not disclosed for the one-year deal, but Pluton CEO Charlie Walch says he’s already using some of the money to hire a full-time scientist to replace the one he lost when Pluton graduated from the Illumina Accelerator.
Charlie Walch, Pluton CEO
“We will conduct research on finding a group of microbes, called a consortia, to fix nitrogen in carbon dioxide, out of the air, back into farm soil,” Walch told the 4thEst8. “Our goal this year is to show that we can find these consortia, and grow them so that they remain effective as you grow them out in larger quantities.”
Fingers crossed:
Walch has his eyes on a product that could be used by farmers of all row crops. That’s 300 million acres, just in the United States. There’s a potential climate change aspect as well.
“It could be a big deal for all of us — human beings. We think if we are right, and this is turned into a natural product, not only are you going to improve soil health… it should also have the capacity to scrub gigatons of carbon dioxide out of the air each year,” Walch said. “We’re emitting 50 gigatons of carbon each year. This would have a direct impact on reversing climate change.”
The newly hired scientist is a recent Washington University graduate. Benjamin Wolf Ph.D. has expertise in identifying photosynthetic bacteria, something Walsh says is critical in finding the right microbes for this contract. Ultimately, if successful, Bayer would have the right to license this technology from Pluton.
Money moves
The 4thEst8 has reported on Walsh’s hopes of closing a Series A round before 2021 ends. This February the company was accepted into the Plug and Play Tech Center’s agtech accelerator, headquartered in Silicone Valley. On exiting the Illumina Accelerator, Pluton picked up two California angel investors, introduced through that accelerator. In mid-2020 the company was accepted into the IN2 Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator. That came with $250,000 in cash and technical research services at the Danforth Center in St. Louis.
At the start of 2020 Pluton acquired Inotech Laboratories in Maryland Heights, Mo. after Walch brought in 38 investors to raise nearly $850,000 in what PitchBook calls equity crowdfunding. Altogether, Walch says Pluton has raised about $1.5 million.
Pluton is a microbial testing and discovery company, focused on finding unique microbes to replace synthetic chemical applications in agriculture, using a technique called bio-mining. The company was founded in 2017, has 15 employees and is headquartered in the Center for Emerging Technologies in the Coretex district of St. Louis.
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