TerViva scores $20 million in Series D funding for pongamia

In Hawaii, TerViva, an agriculture technology firm commercializing resilient pongamia trees that produce as much as ten times the beans per acre as soy for the supply of plant protein, vegetable oil, and biofuel raised an additional $20 million in its first close of its Series D funding and current commitments. This latest round of investment was led by a diversified agricultural family office, Evans Properties, The Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust, and a group of Florida agricultural family offices, who join existing investors including the Elemental Excelerator, the Yield Lab, Astia Angels, Allotrope Ventures and Howard Fischer of Gratitude Railroad. New funds will allow TerViva to accelerate research connecting the pongamia bean’s valuable functional properties to critical processing and product development partnerships that will demonstrate commercial viability of pongamia protein and oil.  These funds will also grow TerViva’s infrastructure to supply farmers with the company’s patented high-yielding oilseed trees in Florida and Hawaii.

TerViva sells farmers patented non-GMO cultivars of pongamia selected for their high yields and hardy growth. Farmers partner with TerViva to grow pongamia on abandoned agriculture lands with little to no fertilizers or pesticides. TerViva buys back the crop for processing into plant protein, livestock feed, and high-oleic oil. By cultivating high seed-producing trees and successfully removing compounds impacting taste, TerViva is the first company to make the ancient pongamia tree’s protein and vegetable oil yields accessible for food applications.