We're proud to announce that our portfolio company VitalFluid has raised a €17.2M Series A to bring its alternative to chemical crop protection to growers internationally. The round is co-led by Alder Tree Investments and Invest-NL, with participation from existing shareholders, including Graduate Ventures.

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Why we invest - Growers are losing crop protection products to stricter regulation and rising resistance, while the pressure to produce food with fewer chemical residues keeps growing. VitalFluid offers a scalable alternative that works within the systems growers already have.

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Market - What started as pilots has turned into multi-year contracts with leading UK growers. On more than 100 hectares of strawberry production, synthetic fungicides for the main fungal control have been almost entirely replaced by VitalFluid. Next up: scaling further in the UK, entering the US market, expanding to crops like apples and grapes, and securing European registration.

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Technology - VitalFluid activates water with high voltage plasma, making the product on site out of water, air and electricity. It has a temporary, powerful antimicrobial effect and then turns into a nutrient for the plant. No harmful residues on the crop, and it works with growers' existing spraying equipment.

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Team - A spin-out from Eindhoven University of Technology, based at High Tech Campus Eindhoven. Under the leadership of founders Erik Hertel (CEO) and Polo van Ooij (CTO), VitalFluid moved from lab technology to commercial adoption by professional growers.A major milestone for VitalFluid, and for the role Dutch technology can play in a more sustainable food system.