$1.9M Investment in Crop Cuticle Care Company to Speed Up Production

Cultiva LLC, maker of Parka, a patented food-grade biofilm used to protect grapes, berries, tree fruit, and nuts, raised $1.9 million in a Series B financing round.

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The capital, raised in conjunction with the Nevada New Markets Tax Credit Program, will help Cultiva continue its rapid growth and expand its leadership in crop cuticle care to increase plants’ tolerance to environmental stress. Cultiva’s expanded work will help growers more efficiently monetize their planted acreage.

With the investment in place, Cultiva is set to open a new in-house manufacturing facility in Las Vegas for production during the 2018 growing season. This facility is expected to bring new manufacturing jobs to the city.

“This investment will provide strong support for us as we fulfill our business targets, increase our product use in new markets, and expand on our leadership in the crop cuticle care space,” Cultiva CEO Luis Hernandez says. “We are excited to further develop and build out our manufacturing facility to bring more jobs to the city of Las Vegas.”

Cultiva will also use this capital to invest in additional sales and marketing resources to fuel international business.

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The company’s proprietary, food-grade biofilm technology, known as SureSeal, acts as a cuticle supplement on plants and has applications in agriculture for growers around the world.

The company’s objective is to explore and develop the capabilities of this technology to make products that provide growers with solutions to suppress fruit cracking, enhance quality traits of harvested fruits and vegetables and extend the marketable shelf life of high-value crops.

Cultiva’s products are used as substitutes for conventional wax-based chemicals. All of its current products are exempt from EPA approval or registration due to their safe, natural, and soft nature, and their classification as non-pesticide products.

Currently the technology is used on the following crops: cherries, apples, pears, blueberries, almonds, and table grapes. Crops under development include citrus, peaches, and nectarines.

 

 

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