BioBead

BioBead is an eco-friendly, drought resistant biofertilizer. We combine multiple strains of bacteria and fungi in an easy-to-apply biodegradable hydrogel format to reduce or eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers.

Problem

Agriculture has traditionally relied on aggressive applications of convention fertilizer to enable sufficient nutrient uptake by crops. The excess nitrogen and phosphorus leaks into soils and groundwater. resulting in contamination, surface water eutrophication, and climate pollution. These negative externalities have been estimated to cost >$2.2 billion annually in the US alone.

Industrial ammonia production uses ~2% of the world’s energy and emits ~1% of atmospheric CO2. Mining phosphorous from rock is non-renewable and geopolitically constrained.

Irrigation accounts for 70% of global water use, ~40% of which is lost due to seepage and evaporation. High nitrogen and phosphorous loading on crops changes the native soil microbiome leading to microbial production of N2O, a greenhouse gas 360x stronger than CO2.

Solution

Biodegradable drought resistant hydrogel encases a bacterial-fungal consortium that increases crop yield by enhancing nitrogen and phosphorus uptake by the plant from ambient sources, reducing or eliminating the need for chemical fertilizer.

Fungal Bacterial Assemblages

N-fixers fix N2 to a plant accessible format

P-solubilizers activate P locked up in soils

Fungi harvest P&N from bacteria to hand it off to plant.

Plant provides carbon to fungus which passes it on bacteria.

Hydrogels

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and N-fixing bacteria co-entrapped and compatible.

Our
Story

Get to Know Us

Born in the Winkler Lab at the University of Washington, BioBead is addressing a pressing global need to improve our food system. With diverse backgrounds across academia and business the founders bring a unique perspective to solving an urgent problem.