FundraiseAug 25, 2026, 08:50 UTC

VitalFluid raises €17.2M Series A to take plasma crop protection to the US

What's the deal? Dutch startup VitalFluid has raised €17.2 million (≈$20 million) in a Series A round to scale its plasma-based crop protection technology internationally. Invest-NL led the round.

What's the endgame? VitalFluid's systems let vegetable and fruit growers make an antimicrobial product on-site from water, air, and electricity. It fights fungal diseases, then gets absorbed by the plant as a nutrient — cutting chemical use without leaving residues.

Why now? Growers worldwide face stricter regulations and rising resistance that make chemical crop protection less effective, while pressure to farm sustainably mounts. VitalFluid pitches itself as a scalable alternative that works with existing spraying equipment and produces at a cost competitive with current products.

Traction: The company has converted pilot projects into long-term contracts with British strawberry growers, replacing chemical mold control across more than 100 hectares. It will use the funding to scale up in the UK and expand into the US.

Who's in: Invest-NL co-led the round, joined by Alder Tree Investments and existing shareholders Horticoop, BOM, Future Food Fund, Graduate Ventures, Innovation Industries, VDL, and Goeie Grutten. A €2.7 million innovation loan from RVO forms part of the total.

The signal: At €17.2 million, this is a large raise for the field — above the 92nd percentile of all-time Series A rounds in Dutch energy. It reflects investor appetite for technologies that promise to replace agricultural chemicals as regulation tightens across Europe.