What Calister S.A. does

Calister S.A. is a Uruguayan privately held agricultural input company founded in 1984 and headquartered in Colonia Nicolich, Canelones. The company formulates and sells a comprehensive portfolio of agrochemical and biological products for crop protection and enhancement, organized into eight categories: herbicides, fungicides (including seed treatments), insecticides, adjuvants and additives, rhizobium and azospirillum-based inoculants, plant growth promoters, bacterial bioprotectors, polymer seed coatings, and seed pigments/colorants. Calister is the only company in Uruguay to have officially validated liquid furrow inoculation technology with the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP), a process it developed over 8 years and validated over 3 years with the Soil Microbiology Laboratory under Ing. Carlos Labandera between 2003 and 2006.

The company operates with a total headcount of 17, including an R&D department staffed by 4 agronomists, 2 pharmaceutical chemists, and 1 biochemist. Its regulatory asset base includes 18 rhizobium-based inoculant registrations, 2 pre-inoculated seed registrations, 1 azospirillum-based inoculant, and 4 bacterial bioprotector registrations, all authorized by MGAP under Law 13640 and Decree 149/977. Calister maintains research collaborations with INIA and three Uruguayan university faculties, and technology exchange agreements with companies in Argentina, Canada/USA, and China. It is ISO 9001 certified and is a member of the Campo Limpio program for agrochemical container stewardship.

Calister's go-to-market is a direct enterprise field-sales motion executed through two named technical field advisors (Juan Pablo Horta, Ignacio Aramendía) who provide on-farm product recommendations and application support to agricultural producers. Sales are currently limited to a single country (Uruguay). Pricing is not publicly disclosed, and the company generates revenue through one-time product sales rather than licensing or subscription models. There are no disclosed funding rounds, no external institutional investors, and no evidence of acquisition activity; Calister appears to operate as an independent, founder/owner-managed business with sustained R&D-driven product line extensions (most recently BIOBOOST in 2025, Evitar 625 FS in 2020, and Blindar 75 WG in 2018).

Name

Calister S.A.

Legal name

Calister S.A.

Website

https://calister.com.uy

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Calister S.A. is a privately held Uruguayan agrochemical and biological input company founded in 1984, formulating herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, inoculants, bioprotectors, polymer coatings, and adjuvants for Uruguayan agricultural producers. It pioneered validated liquid furrow inoculation technology domestically and operates via direct technical field sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Inputs (Crop Protection Chemicals and Biologicals)

NAICS

Pesticide and Other Agricultural Chemical Manufacturing (32532)

SIC

Agricultural Chemicals (2870)

akta.pro primary industry

Biological Formulation, Fermentation & Scale-Up Manufacturing (AFABAEAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Seed Inoculants & Biological Seed Enhancers (Rhizobia, Mycorrhizae, PGPR) (AFABAFAJ), Agronomy Advisory & Field Services (Retailer-Affiliated) (AFABAJAH)

Keywords

• Agricultural crop protection
• Seed treatment products
• Rhizobium inoculants
• Fungicide insecticide herbicides
• Agricultural adjuvants additives

Headquarters

HQ city

Canelones

HQ country

Uruguay

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Agricultural Chemical Products: Sale of agrochemicals including herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, adjuvants, inoculants, bioprotectors, polymer seed coatings, and pigments/colorants for agricultural use.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Calister S.A. manufactures and sells a portfolio of agricultural inputs for Uruguayan and South American crop producers, including herbicides, fungicides (with a dedicated seed-treatment line), insecticides (with seed-treatment formulations), spray adjuvants and additives, rhizobium-based biological inoculants, plant growth promoters, bacterial bioprotectors, polymer seed coatings, and seed pigments/colorants. Sales and technical recommendations are delivered directly to farmers through field technical advisors, with products registered and authorized by Uruguay's MGAP.

Product overview

Calister S.A. is a Uruguayan agricultural input company with over 30 years of experience offering a comprehensive portfolio of crop protection and enhancement products. The product portfolio consists of eight main categories: (1) Herbicidas (Herbicides) including Dragón 5 W.G. and Coat 960 C.E.; (2) Fungicidas (Fungicides) including seed treatments under the Fludiox Ultra TBZ, Fludiox Forte, Envion Invierno S.C., Envión + S.C., and Metalseed 35 S.C. sub-brands; (3) Insecticidas (Insecticides) including Evitar 625 FS, Blindar 75 WG, Abamectina Calister 3,6 C.E., Blindar 200 S.C., Radical 100 S.C., and Tiametox 350 FS; (4) Coadyuvantes y Aditivos (Adjuvants and Additives) including Super Oil, Supermojante Siliconado, CLE, Antiespuma DF7, and FixFilm; (5) Inoculantes (Inoculants) including Bioforce, Nitronat L, Nitronat Soja, and Nitronat varieties for legumes and forage; (6) Promotores de crecimiento vegetal (Plant Growth Promoters) including BIOBOOST; (7) Bioprotectores (Bioprotectors) including AS-STICK Force; and (8) Polímeros (Polymers) including Seed Stick and Seed-V Cover for seed coating, plus Pigmentos y Colorantes (Pigments and Colorants). The company also pioneered liquid inoculation technology applied directly to the planting furrow for soybeans.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• INIA (Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on joint research projects including evaluation of native strains for competitive rhizobium inoculant development for white clover in soils with parasitic rhizobium populations (FPTA project).
• Facultad de Agronomía (Fagro)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for research and development activities, including validation of processes and products.
• Facultad de QuímicaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for research and development activities.
• Facultad de CienciasminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for research and development activities.
• Centro de Innovación en Tecnología y ORTminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on ORT 16 project for prototyping supports for optimization of fungal sporulation in liquid medium for industrial bioinoculant production.
• Laboratorio de Microbiología de Suelos y Control de Inoculantes (MGAP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial validation of liquid inoculation technology conducted with the Soil Microbiology Laboratory of MGAP under Ing. Carlos Labandera between 2003-2006.
• Campo Limpio ProgramminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCalister S.A. is associated with the Campo Limpio (Clean Field) program and collaborates with financing of this program for proper disposal of agrochemical containers.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Rizobacter: Argentine leader in rhizobium-based inoculants and soybean biologicals. Highly comparable to Calister in product portfolio (inoculants, seed treatments, bioprotectors) and target customers (South American soybean and legume growers).
• Lallemand Plant Care: Global biological crop input specialist offering inoculants and biostimulants. Comparable to Calister in biological input technology and target market of agricultural producers seeking sustainable alternatives.
• Stoller Group: Specialist in plant growth promoters and biostimulants with strong Latin American presence. Comparable to Calister in the plant growth promoter category (BIOBOOST) and adjacent to its bioprotector portfolio.
• Verdesian Life Sciences: Specialist in plant nutrition and biological products including rhizobium inoculants. Comparable to Calister's inoculant and bioprotector categories with similar go-to-market through agricultural distributors.

Broad incumbents

• Novonesis (formerly Novozymes BioAg): Global leader in microbial agricultural solutions including rhizobium inoculants. Directly overlaps with Calister's inoculant business but operates at vastly larger scale and with multinational distribution.
• BASF Agricultural Solutions: Global agrochemical and seed treatment incumbent. Overlaps broadly with Calister's herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and seed treatment offerings but operates across much wider geography and scale.
• Bayer Crop Science: Global crop protection and seed giant. Comparable to Calister in core crop protection categories (fungicides, insecticides, seed treatments) and increasingly in biologicals via the BioAg Alliance.
• Syngenta: Global agriscience company with crop protection, seed care, and biologicals. Directly comparable product categories (seed treatments, fungicides, insecticides) plus a growing biologicals portfolio.
• Corteva Agriscience: Global seed and crop protection company with biologicals division. Comparable in seed treatments, herbicides, and the emerging biological inoculant/bioprotector space.
• UPL Limited: Global agrochemical company with strong presence in Latin America. Comparable in crop protection and seed treatment offerings, and increasingly active in biologicals through OpenAg.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CalisterUruguay
• Facebookfacebook.com/Calister-SA-108263371033141
• Instagraminstagram.com/calister.sa

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Calister S.A.