b-Kapz

b-Kapz is an Argentina-based Agbiotech company tackling the integration of bioinputs in agriculture with a microencapsulation platform that transforms liquid products into solid, highly stable formats. This enables seamless integration with chemical fertilizers, boosting fertilizer use efficiency while adding the beneficial effects of microbes, such as biostimulation and resilience, reducing the environmental impact of agriculture.

The b-Kapz microencapsulation platform developed is a unique innovation. It is composed by a proprietary matrix of protectants made out of GRAS components and an optimized Spray Drying process, guaranteeing safety but also low-cost for agricultural applications. This encapsulation is able to protect and transform unstable liquid bioinputs into highly concentrated, solid formulations, reducing weight and volume up to 100x, extending shelf life to over 24 months, and maintaining microbial viability up to 10¹¹ CFU/g at room temperature. Unlike other technologies, it works across multiple microbial species and enables the compatibility of bioinputs with other bioinputs but also with chemical fertilizers, making possible new hybrid “all-in-one” solutions.

One important feature is that the obtained capsules are in truly “micro” size, depending on the microbe, they are between 3 and 20 µm diameter, which makes possible to coat not only seeds but also solid fertilizers. Trials in maize and sorghum have shown that our technology can coat urea and make it 30% more efficient without yield loss, or increase yields when maintaining full doses, delivering both economic savings and climate impact, with certified reductions of ~102.4 kg CO₂eq/ha. Our encapsulation platform was already validated from lab to industrial scale encapsulation processes and it is already advancing pilots with leading agricultural companies in Argentina.