Molagri Raises $5.8 Million to Develop Targeted, Adaptable Biopesticides

Molagri has raised $5.8 million to develop insecticides that could be redesigned as pests evolve, while aiming to spare beneficial insects. The Toronto startup is applying protein engineering to crop protection, beginning with pests that affect tree nuts and tree fruits. Its approach is at an early stage: the company is preparing its first particles for testing, and performance in commercial fields has not been demonstrated.

The funding combines pre-seed and seed financing. The seed round was led by Convective Capital, with participation from Superorganism, Y Combinator, Julian Capital and angel investors, including Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham. Molagri plans to use the capital to hire scientists in insect biology, virology and virus-like particle production.

A delivery system built for specific pests

Molagri’s platform, developed by cofounders Zaky Hassan and Min Jin, uses engineered, non-infectious virus-like particles, or VLPs. The particles are designed to be eaten by a target insect. Proteins on their surface bind to receptors in the insect’s gut, helping the particles enter its cells and deliver messenger RNA instructions. The insect’s own cellular machinery then produces a toxin intended to kill it.

The targeting step is meant to distinguish pests from beneficial insects. Pollinators that lack the relevant receptor should not take up the particles in the same way. Hassan says the company also aims for the toxin payloads to be safe for honeybees, other beneficial organisms and vertebrates, even apart from the VLP’s delivery selectivity. The payload could affect a broader set of organisms than the particle’s targeting mechanism, so both parts matter to the intended level of precision.

That selectivity remains a goal to prove, not a field result. Molagri has studied the molecular structures of receptors in target pests and beneficial insects to look for differences its targeting proteins can use. The company has used cryogenic electron microscopy to determine the structure of a honeybee receptor. That work could inform proteins that bind to pest receptors while avoiding pollinators, but the company has not yet shown that the approach works reliably under commercial growing conditions.

The distinction matters to growers because broad-spectrum insecticides can affect organisms beyond the crop pest they are meant to control. A product that reaches a narrower set of insects could help preserve pollinators and other beneficial species. Whether it can do so at useful levels of pest control, and across the varied conditions of orchards and nut farms, will depend on testing still to come.

What “updatable” could mean in practice

Molagri’s longer-term proposition is to preserve the basic delivery platform while changing the parts that pests can evade. If a mutation makes a toxin ineffective, the company could potentially substitute a payload with a different biological mechanism. If a pest changes the receptor that a VLP uses to enter its cells, Molagri could redesign the particle’s targeting protein to recognize the altered receptor.

This modular approach could shorten the path from detecting a resistance change to developing a response, compared with building a wholly new product each time. But that speed is not established yet. The company hopes to monitor insect populations for emerging mutations and use molecular analysis and protein engineering to anticipate which changes might undermine a product. It could also develop multiple payloads for the same pest, giving growers options to rotate among different modes of action. Each possibility will require evidence that the redesigned versions remain effective, safe and practical to produce.

How product changes are assessed will also shape whether updates can reach farms quickly. Hassan says the company is still exploring what the technology’s development path could mean for product oversight. If every modification requires the same lengthy assessment as a wholly new pesticide, the platform’s ability to adapt quickly could be constrained. The company hopes changes to an established system can be assessed in a way that reflects the specific modification; how that will work has not been determined.

First targets and the development work ahead

Molagri is considering navel orangeworm, a major pest of almonds and pistachios, and codling moth, which affects apples, as initial targets. Hassan also sees possible applications in corn and canola over the longer term. Starting with tree crops gives the company specific pest problems to investigate; expanding to other crops would bring different insects and growing conditions to address.

The company plans to make its VLPs through yeast fermentation. It has determined structures for relevant insect receptors and is now developing its first particles for testing. It has also expanded into a Toronto laboratory with biomanufacturing and tissue culture facilities and filed a provisional patent covering its targeted delivery system.

Molagri has secured an initial letter of intent from a grower, but the practical questions remain open: how well the particles control pests in the field, what production costs would be, how stable formulations are in storage and use, and whether performance holds across farm conditions. The company is also considering licensing its first products to established crop protection companies.

For now, the financing supports the next technical steps rather than proving a new tool is ready for growers. The clearest milestones to watch are whether Molagri can produce particles that reliably reach their intended pests, demonstrate selectivity in field conditions and show that updates can be made and assessed efficiently as resistance develops.