August 12, 2019

By Lynda Kiernan

Mission-driven plant breeding technology company Inari announced the close of an $89 million Series C, funded by its founder Flagship Pioneering, along with Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), global investor EDBI, and Acre Venture Partners, as well as additional unnamed investors. This round brings the company’s total funding to-date to $144 million. 

Launched by Flagship in 2016 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Inari was created with a mission to transform agriculture and mitigate its impact on society and the environment through new approaches to plant breeding. Today, with additional sites in West Lafayette, Indiana, and Ghent, Belgium, the company partners with independent seed producers, using computational agronomy and gene editing practices to bring together biological and data sciences that enable its team and scientific partners to breed new crops that are better suited to specific environments.

Using seeds supplied by academic partners, the company initially targeted the development of wheat, soybean, and corn varieties that would produce higher yields, need fewer inputs and fertilizers, and which would result in higher value for growers. 

“Inari is at the forefront of a new wave of innovation that has the potential to completely reshape agriculture,” said Robert Berendes, Ph.D., executive partner at Flagship Pioneering.

“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.”

Ponsi Trivisvavet, CEO of Inari, said that through the company’s expansive and novel technology platform its scientists can access and leverage the mostly untapped potential that lies in the natural diversity inherent in seeds. 

“We have the ability to rapidly enhance nature’s genetic diversity and provide ways to increase yields, save water and reduce agriculture’s impact on our land and climate,” said Trivisvavet. “Our technologies address not only the needs of growers, but those of the environment as well.”

New investor, Asia-based EDBI was drawn to the company for its ability to significantly improve agricultural yields across Asia, and the world. 

“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,” said EDBI president and CEO, Chu Swee Yeok. “EDBI looks forward to helping Inari harness their technology to capture opportunities in Asia.” 

This round comes a year (almost to the day) after Inari’s $40 million Series B, which was led by Flagship, and included Acre Venture Partners and Alexandria Venture Investments.

At the time, Trivisvavet said, “As the challenges to global food supplies continue to grow, we need more creative ways to help farmers increase their profitability and grow higher quality crops, while remaining environmentally respectful and providing nutritional food for consumers.”

The funding from this round will be used by the company to support the commercial introduction of its high-performance soybean and corn seeds into the U.S. market, and to expand investment in its unique computational and genomic tools for the development of deep knowledge about, and advancement of, the nascent potential in seeds to achieve maximum field production. 

“ICD looks for companies with unmatched potential to change their industries,” said H.E. Mohammed I. Al Shaibani, executive director and CEO. “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.”

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to GAI News. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.