Rizoflora gains new partner and prepares expansion project

Rizoflora Biotecnologia SA, a company specialized in the development of biological products that replace the use of pesticides, was sold to Stoller do Brasil, last Tuesday, July 26th. In May, the company obtained registration approval in Brazil for commercial use of the Rizotec – product made from a fungus that fights nematodes, a type of worm that destroys plants at the root.

With the entry of the new partner, Rizoflora – which is located in the Technological Park of the Federal University of Viçosa (MG) – takes a significant step towards expanding the unit and gaining a national market. “Now, the company will be better structured to serve customers from all over Brazil. Furthermore, it will be able to remain even stronger in Viçosa, with a unit expansion project. From this, there are also good prospects for the development of new innovative products”, highlights Gustavo Moreira Mamão, director of Rizoflora.

Rodrigo Oliveira, CEO of Stoller, has a similar opinion and is certain that Rizoflora's products could become bestsellers in agriculture. “These are items that do not harm the environment and that our tests revealed to be highly effective in combating nematodes and that, in the end, result in significant increases in yield”, he states.

To achieve the desired results, from 2008 onwards, Rizoflora counted on the financial support of Criatec, an entrepreneurial capital fund created by BNDES, which was fundamental to the development of Rizotec. The main objective of the fund is to support innovations based on Brazilian science. The company was one of Criatec's investments at a more embryonic stage, with no concrete results of the product on the market at that time. For Eric Gomes Nobre Ribeiro, Regional manager in Minas Gerais at Criatec, the investment was worth it.

“Because of the feedback we received and also because we were able to bring to the market a solution that reduces the application of inefficient and very toxic chemical products to humans, animals and the environment. Furthermore, we show that it is possible to transform scientific knowledge into a successful business”, he assesses.

Eric highlights that the entrepreneur's motivation and commitment to bringing the technology to the market, as well as the relevance of the product, were the main factors that led the fund to invest in Rizoflora. “Worldwide losses caused by nematodes are estimated at more than US$150 billion per year. The technology developed by the company solves an economically relevant problem and also guarantees producers access to a growing consumer market that demands healthier products, without the use of agrochemicals”, he explains.

New products tend to emerge. According to Robert E. Binder, National co-manager of Criatec, with the investment in Rizoflora, Stoller aims to get closer to UFV for the development of new technologies. “Given these perspectives, as a seed capital fund, we can say that we have fulfilled our role in taking the company to this stage while, at the same time, achieving a significant financial return. From now on, a new important stage will begin for the company”, he assesses.