DURHAMBoragen, Inc., a molecule development company, has raised $2 million in equity, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Fourteen investors contributed to the round, with the first date of sale recorded on Dec. 20.

The filing did not disclose what the company plans to do with the funding.

In 2015, a team of chemists — Dr. Stephen Benkovic, Dr. Lucy Shapiro, Dr. Paul Schimmel, Dr. Gerald Fink, and Dr. C. Tony Liu – founded the Durham-based company as a spinout of Pennsylvania State University.

The mission: to leverage the properties of boron, a naturally occurring chemical element, in a bid to combat the rise in global population and the decrease in farmable land.

The Boragen team. Source: Boragen website

“We are a team united through the study and formulation of boron as a springboard for unique application in the enhancement of plant, animal, and human health,” the startup says on its website.

Roger Kemble, Boragen’s CEO, signed the filing. He has served a number of leadership roles for Syngenta including President of Syngenta Biotechnology Inc., Global Head of Crop Genetics Research, and Global Head of Technology Strategy & Integration from 2002 until retiring in 2012. Prior to that, he held management positions at Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a DuPont company (1991-2002), Allelix Crop Technologies, and Allelix Inc. (1983-1991).

Last March, Boragen raised $3 million by selling debt. In early 2017, it also raised $10.5 million in equity from 28 investors.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Hatteras Venture Partners and Pappas Capital are among the investors listed on its website.

Molecule development startup Boragen aims to raise $4.25M