Harpe Bio

What Harpe Bio does

Harpe Bioherbicide Solutions, Inc., operating as Harpe Bio, is a Raleigh, North Carolina-based agricultural technology company founded in 2020 that develops natural biological herbicides derived from plant extracts including mint. The company's core technology is a platform of novel plant extract combinations protected by U.S. Patent No. 11,771,095, with new sites and modes of action effective against weeds resistant to glyphosate, 2,4-D, Dicamba, and other synthetic chemistries. The portfolio spans pre-emergent, post-emergent, desiccation, and tank-mix formulation variants designed for use in organic, regenerative, and conventional row-crop and specialty-crop agriculture, with active ingredients classified by the EPA as minimum risk.

The company is pre-commercial, with market introductions planned as early as 2026. Revenue mechanics center on product sales of bioherbicide formulations, supplemented by intellectual property and trait development enabled by a 2023 CRISPR-Cas9 license from Corteva Agriscience and the Broad Institute. Go-to-market combines direct enterprise field sales to large farming operations and specialty crop growers with a strategic consumer channel partnership with SBM Life Science (signed March 2026) that will distribute home and garden products through Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart, and Amazon under the BioAdvanced and Natria brands. Cumulative disclosed funding totals approximately $16.2 million across seven rounds from 2020 through 2025, led by ADM, Alexandria Venture Investments, and iSelect Fund Management, with additional support from an NSF SBIR Phase I grant.

The leadership bench is disproportionately senior for a 1–10 person startup, drawing former executives from BASF (CTO Brommer, COO Pepitone, Board Chair Eckes), Bayer CropScience (CEO Buckner), Monsanto (advisor Fraley), Syngenta (advisor McFarland), and a former U.S. Ambassador to UN food and agriculture agencies (director Tom). The company has conducted over 1,000 global field and greenhouse trials and positioned itself as the first new-market entrant to address both organic and industrial agriculture with a natural herbicide platform.

Name

Harpe Bio

Legal name

Harpe Bioherbicide Solutions, Inc.

Website

https://harpebio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Harpe Bio is a Raleigh, NC-based agricultural technology company developing natural, plant extract-derived bioherbicides with novel modes of action for organic, regenerative, and conventional crop production, plus a 2026 home and garden channel via SBM Life Science.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Bioherbicides

NAICS

Pesticide and Other Agricultural Chemical Manufacturing (32532)

SIC

Agricultural Chemicals (2870)

akta.pro primary industry

Weed Control (Pre-Emergent & Post-Emergent) (HSAIAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Biotechnology & Gene-Edited Trait Development (AFAGAIAG)

Keywords

• Biological herbicides
• Natural weed control
• Crop protection products
• Plant extract herbicides
• Agricultural biologicals

Headquarters

HQ city

Raleigh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Bioherbicide Product Sales: The company is developing and plans to commercialize natural herbicide products for organic, regenerative, and conventional agriculture. Revenue will come from product sales of bioherbicide formulations for pre-emergent, post-burndown, and desiccation applications. Plans for select market introductions as early as 2026 following planned regulatory submissions.

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Harpe Bio develops and plans to commercialize natural biological herbicides derived from a platform of plant extracts (including mint) that provide broad-spectrum control of broadleaf and grass weeds, including herbicide-resistant biotypes. The products support pre-emergent, post-emergent, desiccation, and tank-mix applications for organic, regenerative, and conventional agriculture, with select market introductions planned as early as 2026.

Product overview

Harpe Bio offers a unified portfolio of natural herbicide products based on a novel platform of plant extract-derived active ingredients, primarily derived from mint. The core product line includes Harpe Bioherbicide with multiple use-pattern variants: pre-emergent formulations for weed prevention, post-emergent formulations for burndown control, desiccation products for pre-harvest applications, and tank mix/pre-mix formulations that work synergistically with synthetic herbicides. The platform is designed to address both organic and conventional agriculture markets, targeting herbicide-resistant weeds while reducing reliance on synthetic chemicals. The company plans regulatory submissions with select market introductions anticipated in 2026.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Harpe Bioherbicide Platform A natural biological herbicide platform derived from a series of plant extracts including mint, delivering broad-spectrum control of broadleaf and grass weeds with new sites and modes of action. Targeted at organic, regenerative, and conventional farming operations for use in pre-emergent, post-emergent/burndown, desiccation, and tank-mix applications against herbicide-resistant weeds. EPA-classified as minimum risk with little to no risk to human health or the environment.
• SBM Life Science Home & Garden Natural Weed Control Products Natural weed control products co-developed with SBM Life Science for U.S. home and garden consumers. Fast-acting, sustainable alternatives for general weed burndown and moss control, sold under SBM's BioAdvanced and Natria brands via Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart, and Amazon.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,000 global field and greenhouse trials demonstrate effective weed control against broadleaf and grass weeds including resistant biotypes
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SBM Life SciencecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 March 2026Strategic partnership to co-develop and commercialize natural weed control solutions for home and garden consumers. The collaboration leverages Harpe's natural plant extract technology to offer fast-acting, sustainable weed control options in the United States market. Products include minimum-risk pesticides exempt from EPA registration requirements. SBM Life Science is the Home & Garden subsidiary of SBM Company with brands including BioAdvanced, Natria, Protect Home, Protect Garden, and Solabiol.
• Corteva AgrisciencecoreTechnology or Integration · 25 September 2023Joint intellectual property licensing agreement with Corteva Agriscience and Broad Institute for CRISPR-Cas9 and related gene editing tools to further research and develop Harpe bioherbicide tolerant crop systems. This will enable in-season use of Harpe's new bioherbicide formulations.
• Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardcoreTechnology or Integration · 25 September 2023Joint intellectual property licensing agreement with Corteva and Broad Institute for CRISPR-Cas9 and related gene editing tools for developing herbicide-tolerant crop systems.
• Solis AgrosciencesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 September 2023Collaboration with Saint Louis based Solis Agrosciences to accelerate the development of Harpe's herbicide tolerant crop systems. Solis provides cutting edge R&D services and an end-to-end pipeline that designs, generates and tests transgenic and gene edited plants speedily and cost-effectively.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• UPL Limited: Global crop protection company with strong presence in herbicides and growing biologicals portfolio. Comparable incumbent peer; UPL's former CTO (Adrian Percy) is a Harpe scientific advisor, underscoring the overlap.
• Indigo Ag: Largest biologicals-focused agtech with microbial seed treatments and crop protection products. Comparable in pursuing biological alternatives to synthetic inputs and in partnering with major agribusinesses (e.g., ADM collaboration) for go-to-market.
• Certis Biologicals: Established biological crop protection manufacturer with broad portfolio of biofungicides, bioinsecticides, and bionematicides. Comparable as a more mature biologicals incumbent working with conventional ag retailers.
• FMC Corporation: Global agricultural sciences company with leading crop protection portfolio including herbicides. Comparable as incumbent competing against Harpe's bioherbicide platform in row-crop weed control.
• Bayer Crop Science: Largest crop protection and seed company globally; Harpe's CEO, CTO, and several advisors are former Bayer executives. Comparable as dominant incumbent whose Roundup franchise Harpe's bioherbicide directly targets.

Direct peers

• Marrone Bio Innovations (now part of Bioceres Crop Solutions): Pioneer in bio-based crop protection products including bioherbicides, biofungicides, and bioinsecticides. Most direct comparable to Harpe's plant-extract-derived bioherbicide strategy targeting both organic and conventional agriculture.
• BioHerbicides Australia (BHA): Australian company developing bio-based herbicide products from natural sources. Direct emerging competitor in the bioherbicide space with similar technology positioning around natural modes of action against resistant weeds.

Emerging players

• AgBiome: Microbial crop protection company developing biological fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides from its proprietary microbial collection. Comparable as a biologicals-focused agtech peer targeting resistant weed and pest challenges.
• Vestaron: Developer of peptide-based bioinsecticides positioned as natural alternatives to synthetic chemistries, with similar GTM into both specialty and row-crop agriculture. Comparable as a biological crop protection company pursuing the 'natural replacing synthetic' positioning.
• Sound Agriculture: Bio-based company developing nutrient efficiency and crop protection products from natural chemistries. Comparable as a venture-backed biologicals company addressing grower demand for sustainable alternatives to synthetic inputs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC1odgreeBlQz_OD-h2iALKg
• Facebookfacebook.com/HarpeBio
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/harpebio
• Instagraminstagram.com/harpebio
• Xx.com/HarpeBio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Harpe Bio