DNA sequencing startup Boost Biome has launched with a $2.5 million seed round led by Nimble Ventures and Viking Global Investors. The company was founded by biotechnology veterans Rob McBride, Jamie Bacher, and Adam Arkin to identify commercially viable microbial products, with an initial focus on improving yield in the field and reducing spoilage after harvest.

“The key to leveraging microbes to impact food sustainability challenges is figuring out how to sift through enormous diversity and identify specific microbes, or groups of microbes, that will have an impact in real world conditions,” said Boost Biomes Cofounder Rob McBride. “Our goal is to demonstrate that our approach can sift diversity more efficiently, and arrive at solutions that are more effective than traditional approaches.”

According to the academic paper “Functional Soil Microbiome: Belowground Solutions to an Aboveground Problem” by Venkatachalam Lakshmanan, Gopinath Selvaraj, and Harsh P. Bais from the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Delaware, the plant microbiome encompasses the “diverse functional gene pool, originating from viruses, prokaryotes, and eukaryotes, associated with various habitats of a plant host. Such plant habitats range from the whole organism (individual plants) to specific organs (e.g. roots, leaves, shoots, flowers, and seeds, including zones of interaction between roots and the surrounding soil).” This symbiotic relationship can protect plants from disease, drought and insect attacks and prevent plants from drying out during extended droughts.

Investors are Targeting the Sector

There have been several high profile investments made in the space. Two of the most prominent are both in the Boston area. Indigo Ag, which initially focused on microbes that help plants thrive under water stress, but has since broadened its focus to build out a portfolio of products that help plants under a range of growing conditions, including microbes that improve nitrogen uptake and efficiency in row crops, recently closed on a Series D round of $203 million.

Gingko Bioworks has raised a total of $429 million and last year created a new company in conjunction with Bayer to focus on technologies to improve plant-associated microbes with a major focus on nitrogen fixation. The company was launched with a $100 million Series A Round funded by the parent companies and Viking Global Investors.

By David Nitchman, GAI Media