Mating disruption fills a field with a female insect's scent so the males cannot find partners, protecting crops without insecticides. Lithos Crop Protect, founded in Ennsdorf, Upper Austria, in 2018, loads pheromones onto a natural mineral carrier it calls the lithos micro dispenser, so that the method can be sprayed over large areas, according to its EIC project. Its main target is the western corn rootworm, whose larvae feed on maize roots.
The European Innovation Council granted €1,366,312 towards a €2.0 million project from December 2022 to November 2024, and the EIC Fund invested alongside the Austrian investment company Invest AG in October 2023, according to Lithos. In June 2024 Syngenta Biologicals agreed to distribute the rootworm product, Pherolit-d, in Europe, with registration expected by 2026. The EU's food safety agency EFSA published its peer review of the active substance in 2026; the product has not yet been approved.
Company file
- Legal entity
- Lithos Crop Protect GmbH, FN 491469z, Ennsdorf, Austria
- Founded
- 17 May 2018
- Founder and CEO
- Franz Reitbauer
- Products
- Pherolit-d (pending approval); plant strengtheners and biostimulants
- Investors
- Invest AG, EIC Fund
- EIC project
- 1 Dec 2022 to 30 Nov 2024, closed
- EIC funding
- Blended finance: grant plus EIC Fund equity
Where Lithos Stands Now
EFSA's experts discussed the substance's toxicology in teleconferences on 24 and 25 November 2025, and the peer review concluded that field spraying on maize and sweet corn gives "sufficient insecticidal efficacy against the target pests". Lithos called it a major step closer to EU approval and noted that approval of new pheromone substances is rare. While it waits, Lithos sells plant strengtheners and biostimulants in Austria. Its share capital was last increased in 2025, according to North Data.
"We are now ready to take the next giant leap forward and can focus all of our energy on getting our first sprayable pheromone products onto the market."
Franz Reitbauer, founder and CEO, Lithos Crop Protect, October 2023The Technology: Scent on a Stone
The final report says the maize formulation, CornProtect, gained stability, absorbed more pheromone and released it for longer, and was tested at several sites in Europe. The team also adapted the carrier for other pheromones. It registered one patent and filed another. The report gives no figures on field efficacy, hectares treated or sales.
What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
The project was to apply pheromone mating disruption to crops "on a large scale". It improved the product, found an exclusive European distributor and brought in the EIC Fund and a private investor. Large-scale use depends on an EU approval that had not arrived when the project ended and has not arrived since.
- Improved formulationDeliveredPer final report.
- Distribution partnerSignedSyngenta, 2024.
- EFSA peer reviewPublishedEFSA Journal, 2026.
- Large-scale useNot yetEU approval pending.
The Money
Lithos has not disclosed the size of the 2023 round with Invest AG and the EIC Fund, and its Austrian accounts are not freely displayed. The report mentions a collaboration with the European Investment Bank, which advises the EIC Fund. Without approval, its pheromone products cannot yet earn revenue in the EU.
What Cannot Be Checked
Questions for the EIC
How much the EIC Fund invested, the field efficacy results, the company's revenue from biostimulants, and when EU approval of the active substance is expected are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
Lithos offers a pheromone alternative against what its Syngenta announcement calls Europe's most important maize pest. Its case shows how long EU approval takes for such products: years after the EIC backed it, farmers still cannot buy it.
What the project promised
Pheromone mating disruption, sprayed from mineral carriers, to protect crops on a large scale.
What the record shows
A better formulation, a Syngenta deal, an EFSA peer review in 2026, and no EU approval yet.
The Verdict
Ready, but not allowed
Lithos did the development the EIC paid for and signed Syngenta as distributor. Its success now rests on EU approval, which had been expected by 2026 and had not been announced by late September 2026.
Lithos Crop Protect and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.
