Revolutionizing Crop Protection: ClearLeaf’s Approach to Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture

What ClearLeaf does:

ClearLeaf offers GotaBlanca, a safe, organic certified fungicide and bactericide for agricultural use. GotaBlanca utilizes patented technology to provide farmers with an affordable, non-toxic, and effective broad-spectrum solution to address the urgent need for sustainable alternatives to toxic agrochemicals.

The Current Landscape: A Sector Ripe for Innovation

Agriculture faces mounting pressure to produce more food with fewer resources, while reducing environmental impact. Traditional chemical pesticides, though widely used, contribute to soil degradation, water pollution, and growing consumer concern over food safety. Regulators across the globe are tightening restrictions, particularly on heavy metals like copper and synthetic fungicides. Meanwhile, climate variability is intensifying crop disease challenges, pushing growers to seek reliable and sustainable solutions.

Biologicals and organic crop inputs are gaining traction, but many struggle with inconsistent performance or high application costs. Several players, from legacy agrochemical companies to emerging startups, are vying to solve this challenge. However, few have succeeded in delivering both efficacy and environmental integrity at a commercially viable scale.

ClearLeaf’s Origin: A Challenge Accepted

ClearLeaf was founded in Costa Rica by a group of agronomists, scientists, and entrepreneurs with a shared mission: to redefine plant protection through safe and sustainable innovation. The company emerged from a simple but powerful idea, that high-performance disease control shouldn’t come at the expense of people or the planet.

Located in one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, the team witnessed firsthand the negative impact of toxic inputs on ecosystems and rural health. With their expertise on the use of silver combined with surface chemistry, and support from early partners, the team developed a technology platform capable of delivering broad-spectrum pathogen control without compromising environmental or food safety standards.

The ClearLeaf Solution: Organic, Broad-Spectrum, and Scalable

Farmers worldwide rely on toxic pesticides that harm human health, biodiversity, and soil health. ClearLeaf's GotaBlanca is an innovative, non-toxic agricultural solution using patented colloidal silver technology to effectively control all microbial diseases on virtually any crop. Unlike toxic agrochemicals or limited-scope biologicals, GotaBlanca is broad-spectrum, causes no microbial resistance, enhances plant growth, and can be applied pre- and post-harvest—with zero harm to humans, animals, or insects. Their target market includes conventional and organic farmers worldwide, particularly those facing increasingly strict environmental regulations. GotaBlanca is commercially available in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, and Honduras, with proven success against 50+ pathogens across numerous crops and over USD 1.4M in historic sales. ClearLeaf is currently negotiating distribution agreements with major players in North and South America, Africa, Europe, Oceania, and Asia, many of which have already started registration efforts. A 5% global market share would eliminate 4.5 million tons of toxic agrochemicals from our environment. 

Clearleaf

ClearLeaf products are certified organic, non-toxic, and aligned with EU and Japanese organic standards. The solution has shown broad-spectrum efficacy against pathogens such as Botrytis, Alternaria, mildews, Fusarium, and Phytophthora, across crops like strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, rice and many leafy greens. In multiple field trials, it has performed comparably to, or better than, copper-based products and synthetic fungicides, while offering a safer profile and simpler application. The company’s “farm-to-fork” approach ensures full traceability from input to consumer, helping growers meet both regulatory and market demands for transparency and sustainability.

ClearLeaf’s long-term vision is to become the go-to alternative for copper and synthetic fungicides globally, not just in organic farming but also in conventional production systems seeking to reduce environmental risk and chemical loads used in the field.

Impact on the Ground: Cleaner Farming, Healthier Food

One of the company’s most compelling success stories comes from tomato farms in Costa Rica, which had been struggling with persistent Fusarium and blight outbreaks. After transitioning to ClearLeaf’s product, the farm saw a dramatic reduction in disease pressure and was able to increase yields by over 15% while maintaining its low-toxicity farming system. Additionally, farm workers reported fewer health concerns, thanks to the product’s non-toxic formulation.

Inside the Culture: Passion, Purpose, and Science

ClearLeaf’s core team is a diverse mix of agronomists, plant pathologists, chemists, and business professionals who share a passion for regenerative agriculture. Collaboration is key, whether in the lab, in the field, or on global video calls. The company culture values curiosity, transparency, and impact, with team members encouraged to stay close to growers and continuously adapt based on real-world feedback.

“ClearLeaf exists to prove that agricultural productivity and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand. We’re not just replacing toxic agrochemicals, we’re rewriting the standard for what crop protection should be.”

— Néstor Zúñiga, Co-Founder & Managing Director

Find out more about ClearLeaf:

🌐 www.clearleaf.ag