1. Governor’s Environmental and
Economic Leadership Award
2008
2008 Cleantech Innovator Award
Investors’ Circle Top 20
The Role of Biopesticides in
Sustainable Food Systems –
Investor Considerations
2. Global Chemical Pesticide Market
is Challenged
• Government phase-outs
• Pest/weed resistance
• Export residue restrictions
• Public concern
• Lack of new products
24%
48%
28%
Fungicides
Insecticides
Herbicides
Market growth inline with inflation
Fungicides
Insecticides
Herbicides
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
$Billion
27%
24%19%
30%
N. America
Europe
Asia Pacific
South &
Central Am
3. Supermarkets & Legislation in EU
EU legislation 91/414 phases out hundreds of chemical
pesticides; Supermarkets don’t want residues
4. 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007
Launches New Leads
Cost to Discover
& Develop a
Synthetic
Chemical ($Mil)
Fewer New Chemicals –
Higher Cost
1.2 4.1 20
45 85
105
185
256
1956
1964
1969
1977
1984
1998
2000
2003
2007
2010
0
50
100
150
1990 1995 2000 2009
# of Chemicals
Screened to Find
One Product
(‘000)
# of New Chemical
Leads vs. Product
Launches
(Source: CropLife)
Source: Ag Chem New Compound Review
(Vol 25) 2007
5. Biopesticide Growth
Far Exceeds Chemicals
Biopesticide Advantages
• No chemical residues -
good for export
• Manage pest resistance
• Spray in AM, return to
field in PM
• Gentle to environment
• Can be used in organic
• $3-5 mil & 3 yrs to
market
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
2003 2005 2009 2014
$Millions
Biopesticide Growth Outpaces
Chemical Growth
(15.6% vs. 1.3% CAGR)
Most biopesticides are used in conventional farming as
part of pest/plant disease management programs
(source: BCC Research)
7. Agrichemical Company Landscape
• $3-8 billion; GM crops and synthetic chemicals
• Monsanto, DuPont, Dow, Syngenta, Bayer, BASF
• Focus - Large row crops; No biopesticide R&D
• Biopesticide acquisitions and leveraging global
sales force to sell others’ biopesticides
The Big Six
• $100 million-$2 billion; No Biopesticide R&D
• Arysta, Makhteshim, Nufarm, UPI,
Valent/Sumitomo, Advan/Sipcam, Gowan,
Cheminova
• Leverage sales force to sell others’ biopesticides
Generic
Suppliers
• 0-$180 million; Microbials, pheromones, plant oils
• Valent Bio, Becker Underwood, Certis, Arysta,
Shin-etsu, Novozymes, Suterra, AgraQuest, Plant
Health Care, Bioworks, Prophyta, MBI, Pasteuria,
Exosect, EcoSmart
• Some discovery/screening; Most in-license
Biopesticides
8. Many Large Problems to Solve
2.5 4.1 6.1 8.1 9.2
1950 1975 2000 2025 2050
World population growth (billion) (UN)
Plant parasitic nematodes
($80 bil)
Algae ($10+ bil)
Sucking insects ($5 bil)
Weeds ($40+ bil)
Post harvest losses
($300 bil)
Stress & Fertilizer
Efficiency ($500+ bil)
9. What We Do
We discover, develop, and market effective and
environmentally responsible natural products (biopesticides)
that fill unmet needs for weed, pest & plant disease
management.
• Products that improve yields and quality in conventional
ag compared to chemical-only systems
• Products that lower the cost and increase yields in
organic farming
• Products for water treatment and water bodies
10. Company Overview
• Founded April 2006 by industry expert, serial entrepreneur
Pam Marrone in Davis, California
• 54 employees; 12 PhD, 7 MS, 4 MBA, 30 BS, 1 AS
• Selling GreenMatch® Bioherbicide and Regalia® Biofungicide
• Products in advanced development:
Zequanox™ Invasive mussel product - launch early 2011
Two bioinsecticide and two bioherbicides waiting EPA
approval
• 6 U.S., 9 international patents filed
• $23.5 million of invested equity capital, including $8.5
million in current C round
11. Product Pipeline
Strategy: develop multiple
products in parallel to create
substantial revenues after 2011Market
Entry
Date
MBI 501 Anti-transpirant
MBI 203 Insecticide
MBI 206 Insecticide
MBI 010 Herbicide
MBI 302
Nematicide
MBI 005 Herbicide
12. Product
Development
Discovery
Collect samples (soil, insects,
flowers) from unique habitats &
geographies
Isolate, ferment, test bacteria &
fungi
Characterize microbes & pesticidal
compounds
Process development
Toxicology/Regulatory
Formulation
Field trials
Scale-up
QC & Manufacturing
How to Find Safe, Effective Natural Products
13. Water movement
in plant
SYSTEMIC HERBICIDE
(e.g. glyphosate=Roundup®)
MOVEMENT IN PLANTS
MBI 010 - Our “Organic Roundup®”
Long term control of
weeds – roots are
killed after spraying
the leaves
• New species of bacteria discovered from our screen
• Two novel systemic compounds produced by the bacteria
• Broad spectrum weed control
• Not the same mode of action as glyphosate (=Roundup)
• Market entry late 2012
14. Market entry, early 2011 upon EPA approval
Mussels = $ billions in economic & environmental damage
Mussels
clog pipes
in plants
Ruptured mussel
gut cells
Pseudomonas fluorescens
(dead or alive) bacteria kill
mussels when they feed
Discovered by NYSM; patented – MBI is exclusive partner
Zebra Quagga
15. Ag Company Risk Factors
Risk Factor MBI Actions to Mitigate Risks
Weather
Stepwise customer adoption
curve
∙Geographic diversity
∙Water (Zequanox) + Ag
∙ Diverse ag product portfolio
(insecticides, fungicides,
herbicides, nematicides, plant
health)
Commodity prices
Products in multiple crops and
regions
Cost of development in row
crops (corn, soybean, cotton)
Partner with large company
EPA approval timeline delays
Communication, relationships,
lobbying, Biopesticide Alliance
Microbial scale up speed (pace
to reach target COGs)
∙Additional people and equipment
∙ Own/control fermentation
manufacturing
17. Board of Directors & Investors
• Rich Rominger. (Chair). Yolo County farmer and ag icon.
Former USDA Deputy Secretary and CA Agriculture
Secretary; BOD American Farmland Trust
• Larry Hough. Founder, Stuart Mill Ventures. Former CEO
Sallie Mae
• Ranjeet Bhatia. Co-founder, Saffron Hill Ventures
• Tim Fogerty. CFO, CGI Opportunity Fund
• Joe Hudson. Co-founder, One Earth Capital
• Sean Schickedanz. General Partner, Clean Pacific Ventures
• Jim Wissmiller. VP Tenkoz. VP Sales/Marketing at agrichem
cos. Most recently Zeneca and Syngenta
• Pam Marrone. CEO/Founder
18. Investor Considerations
• Investor knowledge of food and ag is limited
• Ag tech companies do not usually fit traditional Silicon Valley
style VC model (exception: software)
• Not an iPod or semiconductor!
• For contrarian investors who develop expertise in ag, the
field is wide open with promising companies to fund
• More Investors needed for companies between late
development and growth stage
• Innovation in ag is badly needed to solve the world’s need
for sustainable food production
• There are not enough startups! Investors could develop
relationships with land grant universities to help create
companies from spinout technologies