London-based machine learning and genomics startup Biographica announced that it has raised £7 millon (USD$9.4 million) in a new Seed funding round, with proceeds aimed at accelerating its creation of climate-resilient, productive and nutritious crops using AI.
According to Biographica, the new financing comes as the agricultural industry faces long timelines and big expenses when developing new crop traits to combat threats from global warming, such as drought tolerance and disease resistance. Such programs often take more than 10 years to bear fruit when identifying which genes are responsible for desired traits before moving on to breeding and gene-editing efforts.
Founded in 2022, Biographica aims to address these challenges, utilizing its proprietary AI platform, which analyzes biological data to identify promising genetic targets in weeks rather than years, providing users with guidance on what genetic changes to pursue and why. According to the company, its platform identified proven gene targets 12x faster than traditional methods, and can uncover novel targets that traditional methods miss, enabling entirely new, high-value traits to reach the market.
Alongside the new financing, Biographica also announced a new partnership with leading seed company BASF | Nunhems.
Cecily Price, CEO of Biographica, said:
“We have seen AI reshape pharma, turning trial-and-error pipelines into learnable biological systems – and it works. We’re bringing that same discipline to crops. Our partnerships with BASF | Nunhems and other leading seed companies show the industry is ready for AI-first approaches to trait discovery, to bring high-value crop varieties to market in seasons, not decades.”
The company said that the new funding will be used to accelerate the development of new crop varieties designed to be more resilient to climate change by expanding its data collection, extending its AI platform to cover more crop traits and deepening commercial relationships across the seed industry. The capital will also support Biographica’s efforts to combine AI-driven discovery with rapid experimental validation.
The funding round was led by Faber VC, and included participation from SuperSeed, Cardumen Capital, The Helm, EQT Foundation and Sie Ventures, alongside existing investors Chalfen Ventures, Entrepreneurs First, Saras Capital and Ventures Together.
Sofia Santos, Partner at Faber VC, said:
“With climate change intensifying the pressure on agricultural systems, improving crop genetics is the most powerful lever we have to sustainably increase yields and build resilience. Biographica is redefining how agricultural innovations happens, and this investment round will allow them to scale their impact globally.”
