Seed-breeding company raise funding to continue the combat against climate change
Equinom, an Israel-based business developing non-GMO seed breeding technology, raised $20 million a Series C round on June 22, accounting for over half of their total rased funding at $37.6 million.
The Series C round was led by Phoenix Insurance Co. and was joined by Fortissimo Capital, BASF Venture Capital, Trendlines Group and Maverick.
The company was founded in 2012 by Gil Shalev, who already had a background in plant breeding. Aiming for better nutrition, Shalev set out to develop the technology to breed new varieties of seeds.
“We want to take genes and use a technology, that is non-GMO and non-gene edited, to develop ingredients with multiple traits that are already available in the market.”
This funding will help Equinom expand its operations in sales, marketing, as well as research and development, according to Shalev.
“The new funding will help us scale up as we have completed the R&D process.”
For the past year, Equinom has conducted research and development on sesame plants and breeding alternative legumes and has over 100,000 acres grown across five continents with millions of dollars in contracts with market-leading food brands.
The company also plans to introduce a new pea protein in October, that will cost 4 times lower than similar proteins and be far more nutritious.
Equinom’s work in seed breeding technology is huge news for the food industry as the company has the power to impact the future of food. Beyond this, the advancement of sustainable nutrition is also important for climate change combatants, an important endeavour in 2021.
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