AgBiome Pitch Deck: All 14 Slides + Teardown

See all 14 slides of the AgBiome pitch deck — a 2021 Series D deck — with a slide-by-slide teardown of what the deck does well and where it falls short.

AgBiome’s Series D deck is a clinical example of how to present a 'platform-plus-product' story to late-stage investors. By 2021, the company had moved beyond theoretical science to commercial reality, citing significant revenue from its first product, Howler. The deck leverages a high-pedigree team—featuring former CEOs of Bayer and GE—and a proprietary database of over 90,000 sequenced microbes to justify a massive $116M raise. It successfully balances the immediate commercial traction of its current fungicides with a long-term roadmap of 30 product launches by 2030. While it lacks specific…

Key takeaways

The Platform Play: AgBiome’s $116M Series D Narrative

AgBiome’s 2021 pitch deck is a masterclass in late-stage fundraising for deep-tech and life sciences companies. At the Series D stage, investors are no longer looking for just a 'good idea'; they are looking for a validated platform, a massive moat, and a clear path to a multi-billion dollar exit. As reported by Business Insider, this deck helped secure $116M in funding, a testament to its ability to bridge the gap between complex microbial science and commercial scalability.

Slide 1-2: The Vision and Branding

The opening slides establish a clean, professional aesthetic. The tagline 'Changing the World Through Microbial Solutions' immediately positions the company within the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) framework, which was a significant driver of investment in 2021. By focusing on 'Microbial Solutions' rather than just 'pesticides,' AgBiome frames itself as a biotechnology platform rather than a simple chemical manufacturer.

Slide 3: The 'Powerhouse' Team

Slide 3 is arguably the strongest slide in the deck for a Series D round. It doesn't just list founders; it lists industry titans. Having Marijn Dekkers (Former CEO of Bayer) as Chairman and John Flannery (Former CEO of GE) as a Business Advisor provides a level of 'adult supervision' and industry connectivity that de-risks the investment significantly. The inclusion of logos from Ciba, BASF, Novartis, and Dow for the executive team signals that these are not academic researchers, but seasoned veterans who know how to navigate the complex regulatory and commercial landscape of global agriculture. The right-hand column showcasing 'Top-Tier Investors' like Polaris, ARCH, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation further reinforces the 'winner's circle' narrative.

Slide 4-5: The Genesis Platform and Data Moat

Slide 5 introduces 'Genesis,' AgBiome’s proprietary microbial platform. This is the 'moat' slide. The company claims to have the 'Largest Sequenced Microbe Collection' with over 90,000+ strains and 300M+ unique genes . By quantifying their data—stating they can compare 45,000 genomes per second —they move the conversation from biology to data science. This is a crucial distinction for attracting high-valuation tech investors who value software-like scalability. The slide also lists the broad applications of the platform, including Animal Health, Gene Editing, and Pharma, suggesting that while they are starting with crop protection, the upside is far larger.

Slide 6-7: Market Dynamics and Exit Strategy

Slide 7 provides the macro-economic justification for the round. It cites a massive shift in the Global Biologicals Market , projected to grow from $1.4 billion in 2020 to $14.4 billion by 2030 . The most effective part of this slide is the 'Market Moves & Exit Opportunities' section. By listing recent acquisitions by Syngenta, Nutrien, and UPL, AgBiome is telling investors exactly who the potential buyers are. The statement that they are 'one of the few AgTech companies with Public Company Potential' sets the stage for either an IPO or a high-premium acquisition.

Slide 8-9: The Product Roadmap

Slide 9 is a dense, visual representation of their pipeline. It transitions the deck from 'platform' to 'product.' They promise 11 product launches by 2025 and 30 by 2030 . By categorizing these into Fungicides, Biostimulants, Insecticides, and Herbicides, they demonstrate a comprehensive strategy to replace the entire synthetic chemical shelf. The cumulative product launch counter at the bottom of the slide provides a clear metric for future success that investors can track.

Slide 10-11: Multiple Revenue Streams

Slide 11 explains how AgBiome will actually make money. Instead of a single business model, they present four: Wholly-Owned, JV/In-License, Early License, and Late License. This 'portfolio approach' to business models is highly attractive to late-stage investors because it balances high-margin, wholly-owned products (like Howler and Theia) with lower-risk, partner-funded development. The inclusion of partner logos like Elanco and TMG proves that the industry is already 'voting with its feet' by integrating AgBiome’s tech.

Slide 12-13: Key Investment Highlights and Traction

Slide 13 serves as the executive summary. It highlights that Howler generated significant revenue in its first full year and mentions ~240 product demos . This is the 'proof of life' for the commercial side of the business. It reiterates the 'Solving a Global Problem' narrative, ensuring the deck ends on a high-impact, mission-driven note.

Slide 14: Closing

The deck concludes with a simple contact slide, maintaining the professional and understated tone of the rest of the presentation.

What AgBiome Does Exceptionally Well

AgBiome excels at quantifying the unquantifiable . Microbial science can be opaque to non-scientists, but by using metrics like '90,000 strains' and '45,000 genomes per second,' they turn biological discovery into a measurable engineering process. This appeals to the logic of venture capital. Furthermore, their team slide is a masterclass in authority. In a sector as regulated as agriculture, having the former CEO of the world’s largest Ag company (Bayer) on your board is a competitive advantage that few startups can match.

What is Missing from the Deck

For a Series D deck, there are a few notable omissions. First, there is a lack of specific financial data . While they mention 'significant revenue' for Howler, they do not provide a P&L, gross margins, or specific revenue targets. Second, there is no 'The Ask' slide . While we know from reported facts they raised $116M, the deck itself doesn't explicitly state how much they are seeking or how they will spend it (e.g., R&D vs. Sales & Marketing). Finally, the competitive landscape is only addressed indirectly through the market growth slide; a direct comparison against other biological players like Indigo Ag or Pivot Bio is absent.

Lessons for Other Founders

Lead with Credibility: If you have a world-class board or advisors, put them upfront. In deep tech, who you know is often as important as what you know. · Turn Science into Data: If your product is complex, find ways to express its power through numbers (e.g., processing speed, database size, gene count). · Show the Exit: Don't make investors guess who will buy you. List the recent acquisitions in your space to show that the market is active and hungry for your technology. · Diversify Your Business Model: Showing that you can generate revenue through both direct sales and licensing makes your company more resilient and attractive to different types of investors.

Frequently asked questions

What is AgBiome's core technology?
AgBiome's core technology is the Genesis platform, described on Slide 5. It is a microbial discovery engine that has sequenced over 90,000 microbe strains and identified over 300 million unique genes. This allows the company to use custom machine learning to compare 45,000 genomes per second, significantly accelerating the discovery of natural, non-chemical pesticides and crop protection solutions.
How does AgBiome generate revenue?
As shown on Slide 11, AgBiome uses four business models: Wholly-Owned (direct revenue/profit), JV/In-License (royalties and profit sharing), Early License (upfront cash and royalties), and Late License (milestones and pipeline monetization). This multi-pronged approach allows them to capture value from their platform while partnering with giants like Elanco and TMG for specific market access.
What is the market opportunity for biological pesticides?
According to Slide 7, the global biologicals market is expected to grow from $1.4 billion in 2020 to $14.4 billion by 2030. During this same period, the market share of biologicals relative to traditional chemicals is projected to rise from 2% to 14%, driven by regulatory concerns and increasing pest resistance to synthetic chemicals.
Who are the key people behind AgBiome?
The leadership team (Slide 3) includes Co-CEOs Scott Uknes and Eric Ward, both with decades of experience in AgTech. The board is particularly notable, featuring Marijn Dekkers, the former CEO of Bayer and Thermo Fisher Scientific, and John Flannery, the former CEO of GE. This level of executive experience is rare for a startup and signals high institutional confidence.
What products does AgBiome currently have in the market?
The deck highlights 'Howler' as their flagship biological fungicide, which generated significant revenue in its first year (Slide 13). Slide 9 shows 'Theia' as a subsequent launch in the biological fungicide category, with a broader pipeline of insecticides, herbicides, and biostimulants scheduled for release through 2030.
Cover slide of the AgBiome pitch deck — Series D 2021
AgBiome pitch deck, slide 1 (2021)

AgBiome pitch deck: the facts

Company
AgBiome
Year
2021
Stage
Series D
Slides
14
Sector
Agriculture / Biotechnology
Deck type
Investor Pitch Deck
Outcome
$116M Raised
Headquarters
North America

AgBiome pitch deck PDF

The full AgBiome deck is embedded on this page and can be read slide by slide in the browser — no download or account required. Each slide is covered in the breakdown above.

What the AgBiome pitch deck was used for

This is AgBiome’s Series D pitch deck from 2021, a 14‑slide presentation used to raise $116M for its biological crop protection platform and products.[1][2][4][5] The deck positions AgBiome as a leader in microbe‑based crop protection, built around a large fully sequenced microbial collection and the GENESIS proprietary data science platform.[1][5][12][15] It focuses on sustainable, naturally derived fungicides such as Howler and pipeline traits, framed as alternatives to synthetic chemical pesticides in global agriculture.[1][4][5][9][15] The raise was for scaling commercial crop protection products, expanding the microbial platform, and advancing R&D for additional biologicals and traits.[1][2][4][5]

Business model: AgBiome is a biotechnology company that discovers and develops biological and trait-based crop protection products by leveraging the plant-associated microbiome and proprietary data science to identify microbes with fungicidal, insecticidal, and nematicidal activity.[1][7][9][12][15]

Round
Series D[1][2][4][5][10][13]
Lead investor
Blue Horizon and Novalis LifeSciences co‑led the Series D round.[1][2][4][5][8][13]
Investors
Blue Horizon (co‑lead)[1][2][3][4][5][13], Novalis LifeSciences (co‑lead)[1][2][4][5][8][13], Bayer (participant)[3], Fidelity (participant)[3], UTIMCO – University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Management Company (participant)[3], The Mosaic Company (participant)[3], Polaris Partners (participant)[3][6], ARC (participant)[3]
Founded
2012[9]
Founders
Scott Uknes, Eric Ward, Jeff Dangl, John Ryals, Paul Schulze-Lefert[9]
Headquarters
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, United States[4][11][15]
Industry
Agricultural biotechnology / biological crop protection[1][7][9][12][15]

Year: 2021[1][2][4][5][10][13]

Raised: $116M Series D funding round announced in September 2021.[1][2][4][5][10][13]

Total funding: Approximately $230M–$233M total funding as of the 2021 Series D round, including the $116M Series D.[2][5][8][13]

Use of funds as presented: To expand AgBiome’s microbial discovery platform and GENESIS data science, advance its pipeline of biological and trait-based crop protection products, and scale commercial execution for sustainable fungicides and related solutions.[1][2][4][5][7][9][10][12][15]

What happened after the AgBiome deck

After raising a $116M oversubscribed Series D in September 2021 led by Blue Horizon and Novalis LifeSciences, AgBiome continued to expand its microbial platform and commercial portfolio, including fungicides such as Howler and Theia and later Howler EVO, while pursuing broader global deployment of biological crop protection solutions.[1][2][4][5][7][9][10][14][15]

What the AgBiome deck got right

What could have been stronger

How an investor would read this deck

What draws attention

Risks that stand out

Questions this deck invites

What founders can take from the AgBiome deck

AgBiome pitch deck: common questions

What does AgBiome do?

AgBiome is a biotechnology company based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina that develops biological and trait-based crop protection products from plant-associated microbes to provide sustainable alternatives to synthetic pesticides.[1][4][7][9][11][12][15]

How much did AgBiome raise with this Series D pitch deck, and who led the round?

In September 2021, AgBiome raised $116 million in an oversubscribed Series D funding round to expand its microbial platform and scale biological crop protection products.[1][2][4][5][10][13] The round was co-led by Blue Horizon and Novalis LifeSciences and brought the company’s total funding to roughly $230M–$233M.[1][2][4][5][8][13]

What products does AgBiome sell or plan to sell?

AgBiome’s commercial focus includes biological fungicides such as Howler, a broad-spectrum fungicide for a wide variety of crops, with Theia as a complementary fungicide expected to launch around 2021.[7][9][14][15] The pitch deck also highlights a pipeline of novel biologicals and traits built from its microbial platform.[1][5][9][12]

What is unique about AgBiome’s technology and platform according to the deck?

AgBiome’s value proposition is that its fully sequenced microbial collection and GENESIS data science platform allow rapid comparison of over 100,000 strains and analysis of hundreds of millions of unique genes to find highly active strains for crop protection.[1][5][7][9][12] This leads to sustainable fungicides and traits that can reduce reliance on harsh chemical pesticides while delivering real-world ROI to growers.[1][4][5][9][15]

What was AgBiome raising money for in the 2021 Series D round?

The Series D capital was raised to fund AgBiome’s expansion of its microbial platform, advance R&D and its pipeline of biologicals and traits, and scale commercial execution in crop protection through its subsidiary selling products like Howler.[1][2][4][5][7][9][10] The deck frames this as enabling global impact, reduced chemical use, and progress against UN Sustainable Development Goals.[1][4][5][12][15]

Sources

Funding and outcome facts on this page were researched on 2026-08-30 from the pages below.

AgBiome pitch deck slides

AgBiome pitch deck slide 1 of 14
AgBiome pitch deck — slide 1 of 14
AgBiome pitch deck slide 2 of 14
AgBiome pitch deck — slide 2 of 14
AgBiome pitch deck slide 3 of 14
AgBiome pitch deck — slide 3 of 14
AgBiome pitch deck slide 4 of 14
AgBiome pitch deck — slide 4 of 14
AgBiome pitch deck slide 5 of 14
AgBiome pitch deck — slide 5 of 14
AgBiome pitch deck slide 6 of 14
AgBiome pitch deck — slide 6 of 14

What each slide of the AgBiome pitch deck says

Slide 3

s polaris ; J ARCH VENTURE ScoTT UKNES ERIC WARD Toni Bucci GERALD COWARD \ v NE Co-CEO Co-CEO Commercial Director, COO CFO PRRTIFAX Co-founder of multiple 30+ yearsinAg pr, Demin emorprotadion AGTECH®# successful Ag companies and CEO experience forAg companies N VA LIS of i 2BLADES Driscoltt § S | Jill prin cropsoton 4, unre O-BASF riscotts SP Uressinces Fidelity _ 47, X wl An novezymes ls : 4 BILLEMELINDA GATES RODRIGO SARRIA DAN Tomso MARIN DEKKERS JOHN FLANNERY 4] Research Business Development Chairman of the Board Benes or syngenta BAYER Scientific, Chairman Novalis LifeSciences - SN ST» 0:BASF Mhenix ~gvaLis ThermoFisher “5 (5¢) Innotech i Advisors Proprietary & Confidential | 3

Slide 4

AGBIOME COMPANY OVERVIEW & THESIS Innovating naturally derived crop protection products that enhance the global food production process and feed the world responsibly BEST-IN-CLASS BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS WITH GLOBAL IMPACT MICROBIAL PLATFORM REAL-WORLD ROI Largest fully sequenced microbe collection Commercial execution in crop protection Addressing grower and consumer with unmatched informatics capability: Pipeline of novel biologicals and traits demands for clean & safe food 90Kto IMin3yrs Transformational partnerships to expand Reducing impact of chemicals worldwide Most advanced, growing pipeline of traits reach of microbial platform Enhancing safety of people, animals and biologicals targe…

Slide 5

THE CORE OF AGBIOME — AN INDUSTRY-LEADING (il MICROBIAL PLATFORM AgBiome was the first company in the world to sequence every strain they collected, allowing the development cuttingedge informatics tools to analyze genomes - The result is more highly active strains, innovative commercial products, and disruptive technologies with numerous applications UNPARALLELED MICROBIAL INSIGHTS AND APPROACHES Largest Microbe Collection 1012 90,000+ v' ABILITY TO COMPARE >100,000 STRAINS AT ONE TiME IN HOURs, NoT DAYs GENESIS™ PROPRIETARY DATA SCIENCE: >300M UNIQUE GENES Novel Wriormatics Fully-integrated, Trillions of Systematic, DataMicrobes Driven Screening Process Every Gene Z in Every [=X Most Micr…

Slide 6

WHY BIOLOGICAL CROP PROTECTION? TODAY'S SOLUTIONS ARE NOT WORKING Growing need for sustainable crop protection * Worldwide population Increasing, more mouths to feed * Arable land is declining, accelerated by soil damage from harsh chemicals * Farmers pressured by pest & crop resistance to synthetics: Less than 5% of market uses organic alternatives * Consumers demanding clean, healthy food * Long-term growth trend seen in organic produce consumption * Regulators seeking alternatives to synthetics Huge opportunity for Crop Protection # Hormtul Poisons Shunned Elsewhere Account for Quarter of All US. Pesticide Use New Study: United States Uses 85 Pesticides Outiawed in Other Countries. PORTL…

Slide 8

OUR FIRST APPLICATION - SUSTAINABLE AND EFFECTIVE BIOLOGICAL CROP PROTECTION UNTREATED Works on 4 300+ cropdisease combinations DISEASE COMPLEX PPERFORMANCE BoTRYTIS EXCELLENT CONTROL " RHIZOCTONIA EXCELLENT CONTROL COLLETOTRICHUM EXCELLENT CONTROL ALTERNARIA Goop CoNTRoL PYTHIUM Goop CNTROL /7 PHYTOPHTHORA (SOIL) Goop CONTROL <7 POWDERY MILDEWS Goop CONTROL <7 DOWNY MILDEWS. Goop CoNTROL 3 T A Conttacel DEMONSTRATED RESULTS + Non-organic NC grower with 300 acres of vegetables for restaurants « Squashfield with Pythium root rot + Decreased die-off after transplant, increased plant vigor, faster flowering and ripening Proprietary & Confidential 8

Slide 12

COMMITTED TO ESG AND ADDRESSING GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS Addresses 12/17 UN Sustainable Development Goals - N GOODHEALTH QuALTY @ AND WELLBEING EDUCATION SUSTAINABLE GENDER EQUALITY DECENT WORK AND [ECONOMIC GROWTH 17 PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS & Proprietary & Confidential 12

Slide text above is read directly from the AgBiome deck PDF embedded on this page.

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