Both companies have struggled to stay afloat and face further headwinds from the current downturn and rough economic climate.
Calyxt spun out from its parent company Cellectis to price an oversubscribed IPO at the bottom of the price range, while analysts remain concerned about gene editing regulation.
A busy week include Saudi Arabia’s first fly farm, a UK agtech innovation hub, Impossible Foods’ new plant-based meat factory, SeaWeb champions and more!
Calyxt, the gene editing ag biotech company has hired Federico Tripodi as its new CEO replacing Luc Mathis who co-founded the company.
Israeli startup Plantae Bioscience uses CRISPR gene editing techniques to slash levels of bitter-tasting saponins in yellow peas, addressing a major pain point in the plant protein industry.
Stalling progress and slumping valuations might feel disappointing to many. Heck, these are challenging times. But this could be the best year yet to invest in agrifoodtech.
Pairwise is also working on blackberries without seeds and cherries without pits in pursuit of its aim to get more Americans snacking on fruits and veggies.
A lot of the questions surrounding the technology are not really scientific but about what this technology is feeding into: power politics, the changing structure of agriculture and smallholder farmers, and long-term effects.
Pontifax AgTech targets returns of three times its investments and sources close to the deal said it is likely the Precision Biosciences exit will come close.
Benson Hill Biosystems, a crop genomics platform using computational biology, predictive breeding, and gene editing technologies, announced at the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in San
The duo is hoping to smash one of the biggest barriers to biologics adoption by providing farmers with a way to cultivate living microbial inputs on the farm that cannot survive in the current supply chain without cold storage.
Adrian Percy is the former head of R&D at Bayer, recently stepping down and becoming the company’s technology ambassador. Ahead of his speaking slot at
Management teams in plant genetics companies have likely been asked by at least one well-intending board member: “Are we using CRISPR? I sat next to this guy on the plane and he said that CRISPR will change everything,” writes Vonnie Estes.
Inscripta is building a business based on selling gene-editing tools, such as instruments, reagents, and software, and in order to create a market for these tools, the company is giving away CRISPR enzymes for free.
An agrifood tech investor takes leave after accusations of sexual misconduct, plus more personnel changes and agtech team-ups in this week’s brief.
“I think CRISPR and other gene editing tools mark a real turning point in the conversation,” Sam Kass, partner at Acre Venture Partners and former senior policy advisor for nutrition in the White House, told the audience of the Food Loves Tech.
Impossible Foods estimates that the new Oakland plant will be able to produce one million pounds of burgers per month, farms prepare for Hurrican Irma, and more.
Kevin Zussman is an agtech investor with Cultivian Sandbox, a venture capital firm that invests in food & agriculture technology startups. Here writes about pivoting into food and agriculture from other industries.
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