BigSis

Name

BigSis

Legal name

Zyzzle Limited

Website

https://bigsis.tech

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Biocontrol Services

NAICS

Exterminating and Pest Control Services (561710), Pesticide and Other Agricultural Chemical Manufacturing (325320)

SIC

Agricultural Chemicals (2870), Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Biological Pest Control (Beneficial Insects, Nematodes, Microbials) (AFABAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Insect Control (Crawling/Flying Insects) for Farms & Ag Facilities (AFACAGAF)

Keywords

• Sterile insect technique
• Biological pest control
• Integrated pest management
• Agricultural automation
• Insect rearing systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Reading

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Insect Control as a Service (ICaaS): Season-long subscription service offered on a cost-per-hectare per-year basis including monitoring and release of sterile male insects. BigSis takes care of insect releases and crop monitoring for the grower.
2. Multi-pest portfolio expansion: Future revenue expansion through additional SIT solutions for codling moth, olive fly, European grapevine moth, fall armyworm, and mosquitoes, built on the same automated production platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

BigSis automates the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) using AI and robotics to rear, sex-sort and X-ray sterilise male insects, producing species-specific, non-GMO sterile males for chemical-free pest control. It delivers this capability to growers as a season-long Insect Control as a Service (ICaaS) priced per hectare per year, with on-farm monitoring and regular releases. Its first commercial solution targets spotted wing drosophila (SWD) in soft fruit and is approved for sale in England and four US states.

Product overview

BigSis sells a single integrated platform — the BigSis Automated SIT Production Platform — that combines biology, engineering, robotics and AI to deliver automated, individualised rearing, sex-sorting and X-ray sterilisation of sterile male insects, packaged to growers as a season-long Insect Control as a Service (ICaaS) subscription priced per hectare per year. On top of this platform, BigSis markets a portfolio of pest-specific SIT solutions: its first and flagship product is the BigSis SWD Control Solution (for spotted wing drosophila in strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and cherries, approved for sale in England and four US states), with the lab-validated BigSis Codling Moth SIT Solution in the pipeline and a wider Future Pest Targets Portfolio (olive fly, European grapevine moth, fall armyworm) plus planned BigSis Mosquito Control Solutions (Aedes aegypti, Anopheles) on the roadmap. Micro-production units are intended to be replicated close to growers, with the service distributed primarily through established agricultural distributors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BigSis SWD Control Solution (Spotted Wing Drosophila) Season-long biological control of spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) in high-value soft fruit such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and cherries, delivered as regular on-farm releases of sterile male SWD produced via BigSis's automated SIT platform; achieved up to 91% suppression in world-first strawberry trials and up to 88% reduction in 2023 raspberry trials versus a single spray of Tracer (spinosad), and approved for sale in England and four US states (WA, OR, CA, FL).
• Insect Control as a Service (ICaaS) BigSis's season-long subscription service model in which the company handles sterile male insect production, monitoring and on-farm releases on behalf of the grower, priced on a cost-per-hectare-per-year basis and delivered primarily through established agricultural distributors; compatible with integrated pest management and organic farming.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 91% suppression of spotted wing drosophila in world-first SIT field trial (2021, 7-hectare strawberry field, Kent)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability8 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• WIRED Consulting (WIRED Trailblazers programme, sponsored by HSBC Commercial Banking)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 September 2025BigSis was named a 2025 WIRED Trailblazer, with the programme highlighting UK scale-ups applying innovative technologies to tackle urgent social, economic and environmental challenges. Sponsorship by HSBC Commercial Banking.
• Clock House FarmcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2022Host farm for BigSis' 2021 world-first SIT field trial in Kent. Acknowledged as a collaborator on the peer-reviewed publication in the journal Insects.
• Berry Gardens Ltd.flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2021UK's largest berry supplier. Partnered with BigSis and NIAB EMR in early field trials to prove the SIT technology against Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) in soft fruit. Richard Harnden, Director of Research at Berry Gardens, commented on the trials and described the BigSis solution as a potential breakthrough in chemical-free SWD control.
• NIAB EMR (National Institute of Agricultural Botany)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2021World-renowned research institute. Collaborated with BigSis and Berry Gardens on the 2021 SWD field trial in Kent. Dr Michelle Fountain, Head of Pest and Pathogen Ecology at NIAB EMR, commented on data providing new insights into SWD dispersal and behaviour in commercial crops. Co-author on the peer-reviewed paper in the journal Insects.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• In2Care: Dutch developer of SIT-compatible mosquito control and autodissemination products targeting Aedes aegypti. Comparable to BigSis's planned mosquito SIT solution and shares the non-chemical, species-specific positioning for public health vector control.
• MosquitoMate: US-based SIT company using Wolbachia-infected male mosquitoes to suppress Aedes albopictus populations. Closely comparable to BigSis's planned Aedes/Anopheles SIT solutions and represents the US regulatory precedent BigSis will build on in its four approved states.
• Enko Chem: US-based agtech using AI-driven small-molecule discovery to design safer crop protection chemistries. Comparable to BigSis because it pursues an analogous 'chemical-free / safer insecticide' mission through a different modality and is chaired by the same Dr David Jones who chairs BigSis, making it a closely linked adjacent player.

Direct peers

• BIOFLY (SIT industria): Spain-based producer of sterile male Mediterranean fruit flies (Ceratitis capitata) for SIT programmes. Comparable to BigSis because it is a European SIT specialist with a similar service-led model for olive/Medfly and stone-fruit growers that overlaps BigSis's olive fly and grapevine moth roadmap.
• Oxitec: UK-based developer of SIT solutions, most notably for Aedes mosquitoes and agricultural pests. Oxitec is the most direct comparator to BigSis because it also uses AI/robotics-driven mass-rearing of sterile male insects, but differentiates by engineering genetically modified strains, whereas BigSis explicitly avoids GM. BigSis's CEO Glen Slade previously held senior roles at an Oxitec-like firm.
• Suterra: US-based subsidiary of Trece Inc. that sells mating-disruption and sterile insect products for codling moth, NOW and other tree-fruit pests. Directly comparable to BigSis's lab-validated codling moth 'super-generic' SIT solution targeting the same 6.3m hectare apple/pear market.
• BioBee Biological Systems: Israel-based producer of beneficial insects and SIT for Mediterranean fruit fly and other pests. Comparable to BigSis because it sells SIT-based pest control as a service to growers, and overlaps on BigSis's olive fly and grapevine moth pipeline targets.

Broad incumbents

• Bayer Crop Science: Global agrochemical and seeds major with a growing biologicals portfolio (including acquisitions like AgBiome and Targenomix). Comparable as the broad incumbent whose chemical insecticide business BigSis is positioning to substitute, and which could become a partner or acquirer.
• Syngenta Group: Global agrochemical and seeds company with deep biologicals and crop protection reach. Highly comparable: Syngenta is BigSis Chairman Dr David Jones's former employer, and as the chemical incumbent stands to either lose share to or partner with BigSis-style SIT.
• Koppert: Netherlands-based global leader in biological crop protection and natural pollination. Comparable to BigSis because it sells integrated pest management solutions into the same soft-fruit and protected-crop growers that BigSis targets, though as a broad biocontrols incumbent rather than a specialist SIT provider.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bigsis-insect-control

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors1 record

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 BigSis