A biotechnology-based startup based in Taichung City, working to create pesticides without environmental and other damaging impacts, has raised $3 million.

Founded by students in 2012, Taiwan Shennon Social Enterprise Co (TSSE), aims to create a product without the negative impacts of chemical pesticides. The company’s main offered product can detect density of pests in a number of crops as well as trap pests.

TSSE was incubated and founded at Chaoyang University of Technology (CYUT) and received tech support from the Pheromones Center at the university. The Pheromones Center also partnered with the startup to create the company’s main product.

“It definitely has never been easy for a student entrepreneurship team to go from startup stage through to Series A fundraising and obtain $3 million successfully,” CYUT President Cheng Tao-Ming said, as reported by Deal Street Asia.

The university’s Business Incubator assisted in the incubation aspect of TSSE. Funds raised in the startup’s recent Series A round came from Bravovia Capital, an investment firm based in Singapore.

“TSSE will partner with CYUT and work closely with the new centre, AABC, to develop more advanced agriculture and biotechnologies,” TSSE founder Zafir Chiang said.

The Advanced Agricultural Biotechnology Research and Development Center will receive $1 million of the Series A funds and will be built in collaboration with the university, the startup said in a statement. Funds from the round will also be put toward creating products and solutions to benefit the environment.

(Picture courtesy: http://web.ce.cyut.edu.tw/)