Published in Sacramento Business Journal – By Mark Anderson – Staff Writer, Sacramento Business Journal
Oct 11, 2024 | https://shorturl.at/MiR0I
Davis-based biological controls company Invasive Species Corp., founded by biologics pioneer Pam Marrone, has taken office and laboratory space in Davis.
The November 2022 startup company has taken 3,000 square feet in an office park at 2121 Second St.
“It’s an office park I’ve had offices in before with a previous company,” Marrone said.
Until now, Invasive Species Corp. and its eight employees have operated virtually, and it had research lab space in the UC Davis-HM.Clause Life Science Innovation Center south of Davis.
The new space includes 1,000 square feet of office space and 2,000 square feet of lab space.
In December last year, Invasive Species Corp. raised a $2.5 million round of pre-seed funding from Singapore-based Silverstrand Capital.
Marrone, who is executive chairwoman and co-founder of Invasive Species Corp., said she is again raising money for creating biological controls for invasive mussels, weed controls and burrowing shrimp.
Biological controls are biologically derived replacements for harsh chemicals used in agriculture and water systems.
Marrone is a pioneer in biological controls. She previously started three biologics companies in Davis, all of which were sold to larger companies. Marrone Bio Innovations Inc. went to an initial public offering on the Nasdaq Stock Market and then was sold in 2022, after nearly a decade, for $236 million to Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp. (Nasdaq: BIOX) of Rosario, Argentina.
Marrone, who retired as CEO of Marrone Bio in 2020, had a three-year non-compete agreement when she left the company.
Pro Farm Group, the team of Bioceres biological researchers previously working for Marrone Bio Innovations, still operates in 31,000 square feet of space in two buildings in University Research Park in Davis.
Before Marrone Bio moved to University Research Park, it had offices and labs in multiple locations in the office park at 2121 Second St.
In 1990, Marrone started a biotech subsidiary in Davis for Danish chemical company Nordisk. Then, in 1995, she launched her own startup biologics company AgraQuest, which was sold to Bayer for $500 million in 2012.