Seed-tech company Inari will use the £73m funding to identify and develop knowledge of seed’s potential to achieve high yield

Inari

Image: Inari secures $89m series C funding. Photo: Courtesy of Ulrike Leone/Pixabay.

Seed-technology startup Inari has raised $89m (£73m) in series C funding, bringing the total funding of the firm to $144m (£118.4m).

The funding round was joined by state-owned Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), Singapore-based venture capital firm EDBI and Acre Venture Partners along with other investors.

The Series C funding rounding will help Inari to expand its investment in its computational and genomic tools, allowing plant scientists to identify and develop a deep knowledge of a seed’s potential to achieve top field performance.

Additionally, the funds will be used to accelerate the commercial introduction of the startup’s high-performance corn and soybean seeds in the US market.

Inari has directly partnered with independent seed producers to introduce plant varieties that can address local farming challenges.

The startup believes that such partnerships will help Inari to understand the farmer’s needs while offering companies and growers the opportunity to help shape innovation.

Flagship Pioneering executive partner Robert Berendes said: “Stagnating innovation in the seed industry has led to industry consolidation and more limited choice for growers. This makes it ripe for disruption from both a technology and business standpoint.

“Inari is at the forefront of a new wave of innovation that has the potential to completely reshape agriculture. The company has developed leading-edge technologies and a fresh approach to plant breeding. Its products will substantially improve crop productivity, reduce environmental impact and make farming more profitable for everyone in the value chain.”

Founded in 2016 by Flagship Pioneering, Inari is a plant breeding technology company that uses unique computational and genetic toolbox to produce high performing plat varieties that can have economic and environmental benefits.

With over 120 employees, the firm is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It has additional offices in West Lafayette, Indiana, and Ghent, Belgium.

ICD executive director and CEO Mohammed Al Shaibani said: “ICD looks for companies with unmatched potential to change their industries. We believe that with its breakthrough technology and innovative business model, Inari is best positioned to disrupt the status quo and become one of the key seed players of the future.”

EDBI CEO and president Chu Swee Yeok said: “Their cutting-edge technology in gene editing for a variety of common agricultural crops could yield high-productivity crops in Singapore, across Asia and worldwide. EDBI looks forward to helping Inari harness their technology to capture opportunities in Asia.”