What Ascribe Bioscience does

Ascribe Bioscience is a private agricultural biotechnology company founded in 2017 and headquartered in Ithaca, New York. It was spun out of the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University and develops crop protection products based on ascarosides — small signaling molecules naturally produced by soil microbiome organisms that prime plants' innate immune systems against fungal, bacterial, and viral pathogens.

The company's flagship product, Phytalix®, is a natural small-molecule biofungicide positioned as a new category of crop protection. Unlike conventional fungicides that act through toxicity, Phytalix strengthens plant defenses and is non-toxic, biodegradable, non-GMO, and bee-friendly. The product is effective at milligram-per-acre concentrations, can be applied as a foliar spray, seed treatment, or tank mix with other inputs, and is claimed to enable growers to cut synthetic fungicide use by 50% or more while maintaining yields. The platform is backed by a decade of research and more than 500 field trials worldwide.

Ascribe operates a B2B, channel-driven go-to-market rather than selling direct to growers. Distribution is anchored by Loveland Products (a Nutrien division) for U.S. row crops, Corteva for seed-treatment applications, and Syngenta under an exclusive arrangement for Southeast Asia (with planned 2029 launch). Initial regulatory approval is being pursued in Brazil, followed by the U.S. and other markets. The company serves large-scale commodity growers (wheat, soy, potatoes, row crops) as the primary segment, with specialty crop producers as a secondary segment. As of late 2025 it has raised approximately $14.5M in disclosed funding across seed and Series A rounds from investors including Corteva Catalyst, Acre Venture Partners, Syngenta Group Ventures, and ICIG Ventures.

Name

Ascribe Bioscience

Legal name

Ascribe Bioscience Inc.

Website

https://ascribebio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ascribe Bioscience is a Cornell-spinout agricultural biotech that develops Phytalix®, a natural small-molecule biofungicide based on soil-microbiome signaling molecules (ascarosides) that prime plant immunity, sold to commodity and specialty growers via channel partners Nutrien/Loveland, Corteva, and Syngenta.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Crop Protection Biofungicides

NAICS

Pesticide and Other Agricultural Chemical Manufacturing (32532), Pesticide, Fertilizer, and Other Agricultural Chemical Manufacturing (3253)

SIC

Agricultural Chemicals (2870)

akta.pro primary industry

Biological Seed Treatments & Inoculants (within Biologicals) (AFABAEAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Fungicides (AFABAAAC), Soil Health Activators & Biostimulants (Humates, Amino Acids, Seaweed Extracts) (AFABAKAJ), Seed Inoculants & Biological Seed Enhancers (Rhizobia, Mycorrhizae, PGPR) (AFABAFAJ)

Keywords

• Biological crop protection
• Natural biofungicides
• Plant disease management
• Agricultural biotechnology
• Soil microbiome solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Ithaca

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Phytalix Biofungicide Sales: Revenue generated from sale of Phytalix, a natural crop protection product. The product is sold to farmers and agricultural producers for crop disease control and plant health benefits. Applied as foliar spray or seed treatment.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Ascribe Bioscience develops and commercializes Phytalix®, a natural small-molecule biofungicide that uses ascaroside signaling molecules from the soil microbiome to prime plants' innate defense systems against fungal, bacterial, and viral pathogens. The product is sold to farmers and agricultural producers as a foliar spray, seed treatment, or tank mix, and is positioned to reduce synthetic fungicide use by 50% or more while maintaining yields. Distribution is delivered through agricultural input channel partners (Loveland Products/Nutrien, Syngenta) and direct enterprise sales across the U.S., Brazil, and Southeast Asia.

Product overview

Ascribe Bioscience develops natural crop protection solutions based on small molecules (ascarosides) from the soil microbiome. The company's portfolio centers on Phytalix®, a single flagship natural small-molecule biofungicide that can be applied as foliar spray or seed treatment. Phytalix® strengthens plants' innate immune systems rather than relying on toxic effects to kill pathogens, offering broad-spectrum protection against fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases while being environmentally friendly, non-toxic, and bee-friendly. The product enables growers to reduce synthetic fungicide applications by 50% or more while maintaining yields.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Phytalix: Natural small-molecule biofungicide that provides broad-spectrum protection against fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases. Non-toxic, biodegradable, and can be applied as seed treatment or foliar spray.

Products and services

• Phytalix® Biofungicide A natural small-molecule biofungicide that primes plants' innate defense systems against fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases. Applied as foliar spray, seed treatment, or tank mix; non-toxic, biodegradable, non-GMO, and bee-friendly. Designed for farmers and agricultural producers seeking to reduce synthetic fungicide use by 50% or more while maintaining yields.
• Phytalix® Seed Treatment Application A seed treatment variant/extension of the Phytalix® biofungicide platform developed in collaboration with Corteva, allowing growers to apply Phytalix® directly to seeds to protect against soil- and seedling-stage pathogens, broadening use cases beyond foliar application.
• Phytalix® for Asian Markets (Southeast Asia) Geographic/market variant of the Phytalix® biofungicide being commercialized through Syngenta with exclusive rights in Southeast Asia for Asian farmers, targeting regional fungal and other crop pathogens with the same natural small-molecule mode of action.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduces synthetic fungicide applications by 50% or more while maintaining yields
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and major.

• SyngentaflagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 4 June 2026Strategic partnership to develop and commercialize PHYTALIX® for Asian farmers. Syngenta receives exclusive rights for Southeast Asia with plans for market launch in 2029, following extensive validation and trials.
• CortevamajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 March 2026Collaboration announced to advance seed treatment use for Phytalix® biofungicide, expanding the product's application method beyond foliar sprays.
• Loveland Products / NutrienmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Loveland Products, a division of Nutrien, to launch Phytalix-based solutions for U.S. row crops. The partnership has expanded over time, indicating ongoing commercial collaboration.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• AgBiome: AgBiome is a U.S.-based agricultural biologicals company that discovers and develops microbial biopesticides and biostimulants for crop protection, directly comparable to Ascribe's natural, microbiome-derived biofungicide strategy and row-crop focus.
• Bioceres Crop Solutions: Bioceres is a Latin American ag biologicals platform that commercializes biofungicides, biostimulants, and inoculants across row crops, overlapping with Ascribe's Brazil-first regulatory and commercial strategy.
• Marrone Bio Innovations (Bioceres Crop Solutions): Marrone Bio is a biopesticide company (now part of Bioceres) that develops and commercializes biological crop protection products, including biofungicides, making it a direct competitor in the same product category Ascribe targets with Phytalix.
• Certis Biologicals: Certis Biologicals is a dedicated biopesticide manufacturer (subsidiary of Mitsui & Co.) offering biofungicides, bioinsecticides, and bionematicides, and is one of the closest direct peers to Ascribe in the biofungicide and biological crop protection category.

Emerging players

• BioConsortia: BioConsortia is a U.S. ag biotech company that uses microbial consortia to develop biopesticides, biostimulants, and biofertilizers, sharing a biological-crop-protection orientation with Ascribe's small-molecule biofungicide platform.
• Symborg: Symborg develops and commercializes biostimulants and biological crop protection products, including products positioned as alternatives to chemical fungicides, overlapping with Ascribe's biopesticide/biostimulant positioning.
• Ginkgo Bioworks: Ginkgo Bioworks operates a synthetic biology platform that develops engineered microbes and bioproducts for agriculture, comparable to Ascribe in using a deep biotech platform to generate novel crop-protection active ingredients.
• Pivot Bio: Pivot Bio is a U.S. ag biologicals company that uses microbial science to replace synthetic nitrogen fertilizer; it competes for the same row-crop biologicals customer wallet as Ascribe even though it addresses a different agronomic input.
• Indigo Ag: Indigo Ag develops and commercializes microbial seed treatments and biostimulants for row crops, comparable to Ascribe's extension of Phytalix into seed treatment applications with Corteva.

Broad incumbents

• Novonesis (Novozymes BioAg): Novonesis (the merged Novozymes and Chr. Hansen BioAg) is a large incumbent in agricultural biologicals including biopesticides and biostimulants, representing the kind of scaled competitor Ascribe is positioning against in the biofungicide market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/AscribeBio
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ascribe-bioscience

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds8 records

Investors12 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 Ascribe Bioscience