ST. LOUIS, MO (Oct. 28, 2022) – Ostara has raised $70 million in Series C funding to increase production of its Crystal Green line of efficient, plant-available, granular phosphate fertilizers for agriculture, specialty and turf markets. Ostara will use the funding to complete construction of its St. Louis manufacturing facility, which will produce and ship the fertilizer to North American farmers. The Series C funding includes multiple new investors, including Carica Sustainable Investments, as well as existing investors Forage Capital Partners, the Cibus Funds, and Grosvenor Food and AgTech.
The announcement comes at a time when farmers, consumers, ag retailers and regulators are searching for solutions that drive yield and improve farm economics, while protecting global natural resources and increasing the resiliency of North America’s fertilizer supply chain.
“Growers are looking for more tools that increase the efficiency of applied nutrients, and reduce their required application rates, operational hassles, and environmental impacts. As a result, more and more growers and retailers are turning to Crystal Green’s innovative, highly efficient, phosphate fertilizers,” says Kerry Cebul, chief executive officer of Ostara. “Ostara is excited to rapidly increase our North American manufacturing base, enabling us to serve more U.S. and Canadian farmers.”
Ostara’s soon-to-be-commissioned Crystal Green manufacturing plant is strategically located in St. Louis, in the heart of midwestern agriculture. Once complete, the facility will produce 200,000 tons per year, providing product in time for the 2024 growing season, as well as dozens of new jobs to the St. Louis region. The facility represents a major step forward in the production of the next generation of highly efficient, plant-available, sustainable phosphate products.
“Phosphates are critical to the production of all crops, yet we know traditional fertilizers are inefficient, increasing their impact on climate and water. Ostara’s proven, innovative technology brings new, efficient phosphate tools to the farm-gate, which enable growers to produce great crops and protect our waterways by limiting runoff,” says Ham James, managing partner at Carica Sustainable Investments, a new investor in Ostara.
“The world’s agriculture market is facing unprecedented times,” says Jim Taylor, managing partner at Forage Capital. “From shortages in food production, to rising energy prices and significant declines in fertilizer availability, there has never been a greater need for ultra-efficient, sustainable fertilizers like Ostara’s. The company not only has the ability to continue to scale world-class manufacturing capacity that can help farmers produce crops, reduce phosphates in waterways, and reduce greenhouse gasses, but it can also do so at a pace and size that will help address the challenges facing global fertilizer supply.”
