Keith Thomas
President & CEO,
Vive Crop Protection

A privately held company based in Toronto, Vive Crop Protection researches and commercializes formulations of active ingredients for crop protection and other applications. Founded out of the University of Toronto’s chemistry department in 2006, Vive now has two locations in Toronto and one in Guelph. The company has 24 employees.

Vive’s formulations are designed to give producers the ability to increase crop yields safely while reducing the use of petroleum-based additives in crop protection products.  Traditional crop protection products use a wide range of formulants, surfactants, emulsifiers and other chemicals around the active ingredient to help with delivery into the plant or other target. Its patented delivery mechanism replaces this wide range of chemicals by encapsulating the active ingredient inside a tiny ball. These small capsules are made out of biodegradable or bio-inert polymers.

Although the company’s primary focus is the crop protection industry, its technology is applicable to wide range of active ingredients for other industries such as consumer products, industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Vive has formulated about two dozen active ingredients so far. Its technology platform addresses challenges such as hard water problems and has the potential to reduce the amount of water required for application. The formulation can be used to modify the solubility for soil applications and to keep the products from entering the water table.

Vive was recently nominated for a 2011 Agrow Award in the category of best formulation innovation of agrochemical or biopesticide products with emphasis on innovation that could lead to improved product efficacy through enhanced delivery or targeting, improved user safety or reduced environmental impact.  In 2010, Vive received the Frost & Sullivan 2010 North American Technology Innovation of the Year Award for its unique encapsulation technology to synthesize particles.