Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund Invests $300,000 in Advanced BioNutrition Corp.

The Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund has invested $300,000 into Columbia-based Advanced BioNutrition Corp. (ABN), a company that stabilizes and delivers sensitive bioactive compounds for a variety of applications, including an environmentally friendly fertilizer alternative that employs microbial stabilization to nitrogen-fixing bacteria, fund officials announced.

ABN was selected for funding in late 2019.

“This Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund investment will help us move forward as a company,” said ABN Chairman of the Board and CEO William Kirk. “We had great success before we sold our animal health and nutrition revenue-based business. Now we are utilizing our technologies to develop applications in new fields. These funds will help us take a step in that direction.”

The Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund invests in Maryland-based startup companies with innovative technologies that may help improve air and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay area. Supported by funding from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the fund is administered by the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech), a unit of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund recipients are jointly selected by Mtech and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

ABN has developed a formulation for stabilizing rhizobia bacteria when it is applied to a seed for planting. Rhizobia helps plants such as soybeans convert nitrogen in the air into ammonia (composed of one nitrogen and three hydrogen atoms), an important source of nitrogen for plants. Nitrogen promotes plant growth and increases seed production, resulting in greater yields. 

“Seed dealers mix rhizobia with soybean seed and deliver it to farms,” explained Kirk. “But if the farmer cannot plant that day, for whatever reason, the rhizobia can lose its effectiveness. It just doesn’t have the shelf life. The technology that we’ve developed allows us to put live organisms like rhizobia in an innate inactive state, but keep them stable and alive.”

The use of rhizobia on seeds reduces the need for farmers to employ nitrogen-based fertilizers for legumes such as soybeans.

The largest source of pollution to the Bay comes from agricultural runoff, which contributes roughly 40 percent of the nitrogen entering the Chesapeake Bay, according to the Chesapeake Bay Program. 

“Excess fertilizer introduces nitrogen and phosphorus to the Chesapeake Bay, fueling algal blooms that harm living resources,” said Sarah Lane, Innovative Technology Coordinator for the Chesapeake and Coastal Service in the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. “Adding microbes to the soil leads to more effective nitrogen fixing and a healthier soil structure, enhancing plant and root growth without additional fertilizer, and reduces the nutrient runoff into the Chesapeake Bay.”

Advanced BioNutrition’s technology is protected by more than 40 global patent families, according to Kirk. The company’s plans include additional work with microbial producers for stabilization technology to overcome the extreme environmental challenge with bulk seed (a trend with larger farms) having no protection from humidity and temperature. ABN is also stabilizing RNA for a partner who is testing it for bio-insect control and additional applications in the human health, nutrition and biopharmaceutical industries.

ABN has raised $20 million in funding for its animal health business, in addition to receiving four Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) project awards, since it was launched as a spinout from Martek Biosciences in 2001. The company previously developed fish vaccines and probiotic applications for the animal field, a business it sold in 2017.

“Advanced BioNutrition’s management team is composed of experienced executives who worked together to develop and sell the company’s animal health business,” said Jolene Gurevich, Manager of Mtech Ventures and the Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund. “We feel that the team is ready to execute similarly on a new platform of environmentally friendly, stabilized microbials for better nitrogen fixing and biopesticides.”

About Advanced BioNutrition

Founded in 2001 in Columbia, Md., Advanced BioNutrition is a technology provider focused on offering environmentally sustainable and science-based stabilization and delivery solutions to a variety of industries, including human health and nutrition, agriculture, and biopharma. ABN's research team of biologists, chemists, food scientists, agronomists, and engineers works collaboratively alongside customers to adapt the company's proprietary technologies to resolve specific product issues and formulation challenges to better stabilize, protect, and deliver a wide range of sensitive bioactives. ABN's innovative solutions enable its partners to enhance their products in ways that improve performance and value.

About the Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund

The Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund invests in Maryland-based startup companies with innovative technologies that may help improve air and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay area. Supported by funding from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the fund is administered by the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech), a unit of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund recipients are jointly selected by Mtech and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

April 28, 2020