BIOTROP

Company Overview

Biotrop is a leading player in biological solutions for ag businesses in Brazil. Through its innovative portfolio, which reflects the company´s focus on improving R&D, Biotrop is able to grow steadily, while maintaining its competitive status and product differentiation. Positioned in key ag territories in Brazil, Biotrop also operates in strategic locations within LatAm, exploring untapped regions and further broadening its addressable market.

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  • Exposure to the fastest growing sector within ag inputs
  • Shift in demand in favor of chemical inputs substitution and towards more sustainable agricultural practices
  • Still underpenetrated market with vast untapped potential
  • High barriers to entry, due to long product licensing process, capital requirements, and formulation and production know how
  • Total Bio, acquired by Biotrop in 2018, was a leading player in the inoculants segment – 20% market share
  • High margins (~78% Gross Margin), sustainable finance structure and tax efficiency
  • Partnership with prestigious research institutes and close relationship with Embrapa (Brazilian Ag Research Corporation)

Since the establishment of Biotrop and acquisition of TotalBio at the end of 2018, Aqua has employed its tool set to professionalize, grow and transform Biotrop into a biotechnology leader in Brazil and abroad. The value creation levers include the following points:

  •  Professionalization
    • Transition from a founder-owner management to an experienced CEO with entrepreneurial vision
    • Structuring of a financial department and S&OP process from ground up
    • New commercial director, team and granular commercial planning process, with territorial strategies and measurements of CAC and LTV per client
    • Compensation system linked to value creation and business goals and establishment of a culture that prizes innovation and risk taking
      .
  • Growth:
    • Sales increase at a CAGR18-20 of ~36%
    • Expanded market access, by introducing client segmentation and shifting from smaller to larger distributors
    • Scaled sales team to over 100 reps in 2021 (against 28 in 2018)
    • Introduced effective marketing and demand generation tools
    • More than doubled industrial capacity to over 7 million liters, with substantial investments in quality control and automation
      .
  • Transformation:
    • Shifted towards the sale of high-value-added biopesticides and biostimulants, with gross margins above 90%
    • Ramped-up investments in R&D and innovation (R&D expense CAGR of 83% from 2019-2021), and acquired a 40ha new experimental station
    • Focused on IP protection and patenting, with over 9 full biopesticide registrations between 2020-2021 (vs none before)
    • Ongoing internationalization, with commercial success in 4 other countries within LatAm and entrance planned into the US, EU and Asia

  • Develop a versatile and powerful biotech platform, with a large proprietary microbial bank, metagenomic and functional mapping and effective microbial selection algorithms
  • Complement the product portlfolio, targeting different pests and crops, with products based on various active ingredients, including fungi, botanical extracts, viruses and insects
  • Enhance value proposition and recurrence by offering services, tailored recommendations and predictive algorithms to growers
  • Expand the company´s commercial footprint in LatAm and develop an entrance into the large and untapped US market
  • Register product portfolio in key markets internationally
  • Use M&A to accelerate internationalization and portfolio expansion