Molagri Eyes Evolutionary Pesticides to Combat Crop Resistance
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
The Toronto-based startup, founded by University of Toronto PhD candidates, is leveraging AI-driven protein design to stay ahead of evolving pests.
Toronto startup Molagri is developing a method to evolve pesticides in tandem with pests to reduce the risk of resistance, BetaKit reports. Founded by University of Toronto PhD candidates Zaky Hassan and Min Jin, the company utilizes AI-driven advancements in protein design to synthesize targeted pesticides.
According to BetaKit, Molagri's technology is built on a non-infectious insect virus, allowing the team to engineer targeted proteins that can "whitelist" and "blacklist" targets. This allows the company to adjust formulations to keep pace with pest evolution. Hassan compared the approach to flu vaccines, noting that Molagri aims to handle the technical complexities in the background so farmers receive an effective product.
While Hassan intends to scale the company in Canada to bolster the local ecosystem, BetaKit reports that the founders were initially unsuccessful in securing Canadian investment due to risk aversion. Instead, Molagri secured $1 million USD ($1.4 million CAD) in pre-seed funding from Y Combinator and the U.S. deeptech venture capital firm Julian Capital.
These funds allowed the startup to hire a scientist and secure lab space at the MaRS Discovery District. Molagri's initial product focus is on tree fruits and tree nuts, which Hassan told BetaKit creates an "acute insecticide need," primarily centering early operations in California. The founders will pitch to investors during the Y Combinator Demo Day on Sept. 10, with plans to use a subsequent seed raise to hire additional scientists in Toronto.