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Mazen Animal Health raises $11 million Series A

May 27, 2022

Mazen Animal Health announced this week the closing of its Series A round of over $11 million. The round was led by Fall Line Capital and joined by all previous seed investors including Next Level Ventures, ISA Ventures, Kent Corporation, Ag Startup Engine, Ag Ventures Alliance Summit Ag. New investors, AgFunder, 1330 Investments, Addison Laboratories, SLO Seeds Ventures and Cal Poly Ventures also participated in the financing.

The company is developing orally-delivered animal vaccines that revolutionize animal disease prevention. By administering the vaccine with feed, Mazen eliminates the challenges associated with finding labor to administer injectable vaccines and other issues such as broken needles in the animal or accidental vaccination of the worker. Oral vaccines allow for cost-effective disease prevention with improved animal welfare.

“I am thrilled to have Fall Line Capital lead our Series A round. They believe in our experienced team and transformational technology – and share our vision for aggressive growth,” said Jenny Filbey, CEO of Mazen. “I am also delighted to have all our Seed investors continue to support us both financially and in the community. We have a great group of investors.”

Mazen’s lead oral vaccine in development for the prevention of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) is currently undergoing pivotal efficacy studies required for USDA approval. The company is also scaling up commercial manufacture of the vaccine.

“Our investors are seeing the tremendous potential of the technology platform to deliver better vaccines more efficiently,” said Filbey. “In fact, the technology can help achieve better animal health through disease prevention – rather than. treatment – and improve economics, stewardship and sustainability.”

Mazen’s pipeline has advanced with ongoing proof-of-concept studies for coccidiosis in poultry and a third proprietary product in development, also for poultry. The Series A funds will be used to support launch of the PEDV product, development of pipeline products, addition of new products to the pipeline, as well as adding new members to the team.

Previous coverage

Mazen Animal Health closes seed round, announces new hires

Ag Startup Engine announces two $50,000 investments

Iowa G2M Accelerator announces the 5 startups in its first cohort

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Mazen Animal Health raises $11 million Series A | Clay & Milk
A central Iowa ag-tech accelerator has secured more backers and finally has a name. The Greater Des Moines Partnership first announced the accelerator last year, naming four initial investors. On Monday, the Partnership said the program will be called the "Iowa AgriTech Accelerator" and named three new investors. The new investors include Grinnell Mutual, Kent Corp. and Sukup Manufacturing, all Iowa companies. They join investors Deere & Co., Peoples Co., Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Co. and DuPont Pioneer. Each investor has agreed to put up $100,000 for the first year of the accelerator. Startups entering the program will receive $40,000 in seed funding in exchange for 6 percent equity. Tej Dhawan, an angel investor and local startup mentor, is serving as interim director until the AgriTech Accelerator names a permanent leader. Dhawan held a similar role with the GIA before Brian Hemesath was named as managing director. As interim director, Dhawan said his main job includes hiring the accelerator's executive director, establishing a business structure and initial recruiting for the first cohort. The accelerator will place few filters, such as location and product, on the applicant pool, Dhawan said. "When you’re seeking innovation, innovation can come from every corner of the world so why restrict ourselves," he said. One area the the AgriTech Accelerator won't recruit from is biotech. For its first cohort, the AgriTech Accelerator will work out of the GIA's space in Des Moines' East Village, Dhawan said. A future, permanent home is still to be decided. The accelerator's program will host startups from mid-July through mid-October, ending with an event connected to the annual World Food Prize. The GIA, which the AgriTech Accelerator is based on, also ends with presentations at an industry event. The accelerator has also started lining up a mentor pool. The Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Soybean Association and the Iowa Pork Producers Association have agreed to provide mentors, as has Iowa State University. While the AgriTech Accelerator is loosely based off of the GIA, it will differ in its business structure, Dhawan said. The GIA runs through a for-profit model for both operations and its investment fund. The AgriTech Accelerator will have a nonprofit model for its operations and a for-profit setup for its fund. Dhawan said the nonprofit model is being used so the accelerator can better work with other nonprofit partners, such as trade associations. "These are all organizations that are nonprofits and can be amazing stakeholders without ever having to be investors in the accelerator," he said. "It becomes easier to work with trade associations in their nonprofit role when we are also a nonprofit." When it's up and running, the AgriTech Accelerator would be one of a handful of ag-focused startup development programs in Iowa. Others include the Ag Startup Engine out of Iowa State University and the Rural Ventures Alliance from Iowa MicroLoan. Matthew Patane is the managing editor and co-founder of Clay & Milk. Send him an email at mpatane@clayandmilk.com.
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