Interview with Diego Ibanez, CFO Botanical Solution Inc.

Abstract

BSI is a venture-backed corporation based in Davis, California. It was founded in Santiago, Chile in 2013 with a focus on producing botanical extracts and has developed a proprietary R&D platform, based on plant tissue culture, for sustainable and improved production of Advanced Botanical Materials (ABM) that addresses critical and well-known issues related to the current production of key traditional botanical raw materials, often obtained under exploitation of natural resources. It has a 500 m2 laboratory production facility in Chile that can produce large amounts of product without the need for field-grown natural resources - making the production unique, and very efficient in producing and scaling the volume of botanical extract needed. It will be setting up a new facility in California later this year to focus mainly on pharmaceuticals. As a venture-backed company it has raised approximately $10 million so far to support its core areas. In May of 2022, BSI won the Best Startup Company of the Year Award from the World Bioprotection Forum, based on the evaluation of 20 distinguished judges. It has a mixed IP strategy; the production platform itself is protected by trade secrets, and the extracts and formulated products are patented.