Wasps combat pests that attack sugarcane and soybeans

Polyphagous wasps that parasitize insect eggs are flagship product of Bug, a biological control startup that has grown 600% since it was recognized by major innovation rankings.

FAPESP Research for Innovation – Bug Agentes Biológicos, based in Piracicaba, São Paulo State, was rated one of the world’s 50 most innovative companies in 2011 by Fast Company, a US business and technology magazine, alongside major names such as Apple, Facebook and Google, and was ranked as the most innovative company in Brazil, ahead of such state-owned giants as Embraer and Petrobras.

The startup stood out for having developed and commercialized an efficient method for multiplying wasps of the genus Trichogramma, which attacks common sugarcane and soybean pests, in only two years.

The ranking helped Bug increase its market share. “From the equivalent of 18,000 hectares of soybeans all told, our customer base grew to 800,000 hectares. In sugar and ethanol mills, we grew even faster, from three to 100,” says Alexandre de Sene Pinto, Bug’s director of research and development and currently a partner at the firm.

“Since then, Bug has grown 600% in area and sales, far more than the overall growth rate for the biological control sector, which was 25%-30% in the same period.” 

The startup was founded in 2001 by graduate students at the University of São Paulo’s Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ-USP). From 2005, it was supported by FAPESP’s Innovative Research in Small Business Program (PIPE), which supplied funding for the development of Trichogramma galloi and egg parasitoids Trissolcus basalis and Telenomus podisi to control Euschistus heros, the neotropical brown stink bug that attacks soybeans and other crops. The product will be brought to market as soon as it has been registered with the Ministry of Agriculture, ANVISA (the National Health Surveillance Agency), and IBAMA (the National Environmental Protection Agency).

The visibility imparted by the ranking and media projected Bug into the international market: in 2014, it was included in a group of 36 startups considered as Technology Pioneers by the World Economic Forum. 

This visibility and its performance in innovation attracted heavyweight partners. In 2008, Bug received a capital injection of R$1.5 million from BNDES, the National Development Bank, via the Criatec seed capital fund, in exchange for a 20% stake in Bug’s equity. 

The startup also caught the eye of Trigger Participações, which invested R$1.5 million, and in 2014, Bug received a third capital injection from Rosag. Porto Seguro, a leading insurer, is currently a shareholder.

Bug now produces four kinds of wasps to combat pests that attack sugarcane, soybeans, melons and corn, among other crops, and has customers throughout Brazil, from Rio Grande do Norte to Rio Grande do Sul. Despite its international visibility, it has not yet been able to export because of the fast pace of domestic growth. It has two production units, in Piracicaba and Charqueada, with an aggregate area of 32,000 square meters and a floor area of 8,000 square meters. “They aren’t able to keep up with demand,” Pinto says.

Company: Bug Agentes Biológicos
Site: bugagentesbiologicos.com.br/site
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