Key Takeaways
- Ghent University spin-off B-COS has closed a €1M pre-seed funding round backed by Agri Investment Fund (AIF), VP Capital, and Biotope by VIB, with additional support from VLAIO and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
- The company uses precision fermentation to produce chitooligosaccharides with pharmaceutical-grade batch-to-batch consistency, directly addressing the performance variability that has limited biopesticide adoption among professional growers.
- B-COS has signed an early discovery agreement with Nichino Europe, the European arm of Japanese crop protection group Nihon Nohyaku, to evaluate precision-fermented chitooligosaccharides across multiple crop protection applications.
- Funds will be directed toward scale-up activities, European regulatory navigation, and the first greenhouse and field trials, with tomato as the initial focus crop.
- The company was founded in June 2025 as the first spin-off launched through Ghent University's Fast Lane program, and has now added industry adviser Stef Dierickx to its advisory board.
B-COS Secures Pre-Seed Financing to Bring Consistent Biopesticides to Market
Ghent University spin-off B-COS has announced the close of a €1M pre-seed funding round led by Agri Investment Fund (AIF), the venture capital arm of Boerenbond — the farmers' union of Flanders and eastern Belgium — and VP Capital, the long-term investment vehicle of the Van Puijenbroek family operating across the Netherlands and Belgium. Biotope by VIB, which provided incubation support from the outset, also contributed to the round. A Research Project grant from VLAIO, the Flemish Agency for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, is included in the total, earmarked for further elucidating the mode of action of B-COS's crop protection product. The company additionally benefits from support by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
The financing arrives as European farmers face mounting pressure: approximately 50% of synthetic active substances approved in 2009 have since been withdrawn from the EU market, leaving growers reliant on biological alternatives that frequently suffer from inconsistent performance.
How B-COS Addresses the Consistency Problem
B-COS produces chitooligosaccharides through precision fermentation, using engineered bacteria cultivated on simple sugar feedstocks. The controlled manufacturing process delivers identical molecular structures across every production batch, achieving pharmaceutical-grade consistency that conventional extraction-based biopesticides cannot match. For farmers, that reliability translates into predictable crop protection outcomes and reduced financial risk.
The B-COS technology platform can be adjusted to generate different chitooligosaccharide structures targeting distinct agronomic challenges, including drought resilience, nematode pressure, and fungal disease. The company plans to use the pre-seed proceeds to advance scale-up, complete European regulatory filings, and initiate greenhouse and field trials with tomato as the lead crop.
“What Europe needs is not just more biological alternatives, but better ones: products that deliver consistent, predictable results under real field conditions. This financing puts us in an excellent position to further unlock the potential of the technology platform,” said Chiara Guidi, CEO and Co-Founder, B-COS.
Early Discovery Agreement with Nichino Europe
Alongside the funding announcement, B-COS confirmed an early discovery agreement with Nichino Europe, the European subsidiary of Japanese crop protection group Nihon Nohyaku. The collaboration will assess the agronomic potential of precision-fermented chitooligosaccharides across a range of crop protection scenarios.
“As Nichino Europe, we are continuously evaluating new crop protection solutions that could contribute to sustainable food production. With this early discovery collaboration we want to analyse the solutions developed by B-COS. By doing this together with B-COS we aim to do this in an efficient way in order to shorten the time to market once the potential has been identified,” said Stef Dierickx, Business Development Manager, Nichino Europe Co., Ltd.
Team and Advisory Board
B-COS was established in June 2025 as the inaugural company launched under Ghent University's Fast Lane spin-off program. The founding team comprises CEO Chiara Guidi and CTO Wouter Demeester, both doctoral graduates from Professor De Mey's laboratory, alongside co-founder Maaike Perneel, who contributes commercial agri-tech experience. Stef Dierickx has also joined the advisory board, bringing expertise in agri-tech commercialisation and industrial biotech scale-up.
“Agriculture is at a turning point, where the need for reliable alternatives is becoming increasingly clear. What convinced us in B-COS is not just the technology itself, but its potential to make biological crop protection a dependable choice in everyday farming practice,” said Erica van Eeghen, Senior Manager Ventures, VP Capital.
