London-based Biographica, an agricultural biotechnology company, has
raised £7 million in a funding round led by Faber VC, with participation from
SuperSeed, Cardumen Capital, The Helm, EQT Foundation, and Sie Ventures. The
round also included existing investors Chalfen Ventures, Entrepreneurs First,
Nucleus Capital, Dhyan Ventures, Saras Capital, and Ventures Together.
Developing new crop traits such as drought tolerance, disease resistance,
or improved nutrition typically takes more than a decade and requires
significant investment, with gene identification representing the primary
bottleneck.
Biographica is addressing this challenge by applying AI-driven discovery
methods to support the development of next-generation crop traits. Its AI
platform identifies promising genetic targets within weeks, helping guide gene
editing and breeding decisions, reducing development timelines by up to five
years, and lowering R&D costs.
In pilot projects with seed and precision breeding companies, the
platform identified validated gene targets up to 12 times faster than
conventional approaches and uncovered novel targets not detected by traditional
methods.
The company is now integrating AI-driven discovery with rapid
experimental validation through a “lab-in-the-loop” model, creating a
continuous improvement cycle that enables faster and more reliable trait
development.
We’ve seen AI reshape pharma, turning trial-and-error pipelines into
learnable biological systems — and it works. We’re bringing that same
discipline to crops,
said Cecily Price, CEO of Biographica.
The company also announced a new partnership with BASF | Nunhems to support the development of new crop varieties in the
agricultural sector.
The new funding will support the expansion of Biographica’s data and AI
platform, the development of additional crop traits, and the strengthening of
partnerships across the seed industry.