May 10, 2018

ADM Capital’s Cibus Fund, joined by existing investors GreenSoil Investments and Middleland Capital, have made a $10 million Series C investment in Rootility, an Israeli-based developer of innovative root-focused plant breeding methods to increase crop yields and overall agronomic performance. The new investment round will enable the company to expand its sales in new territories including Asia, and further develop new generations of its unique rootstock breeding solutions for a wider variety of crops.

Rootility uses a proprietary method of screening vegetable roots for superior qualities, selectively breeds and patents them and then sells their seeds through existing vegetable seed distribution networks. The company currently has four commercial varieties registered in the U.S., and one in the EU. The company is currently focused on mitigating abiotic stressors, including cold, heat, salinity, and drought in growing areas of the Mediterranean basin and California. Rootility’s methods are GMO-free, based on sophisticated simulation and empirical work in combination with well-known breeding techniques, which enable the company to cross and screen crops at a large scale and high speeds.

Alastair Cooper, senior investment director at the Cibus Fund, said that “Rootility’s unique approach which harnesses innovative technologies is a natural fit for the Cibus Fund which focuses on investment opportunities in sustainable food processing and production companies spanning growth through mid-market businesses.” As part of the investment, Cooper will join the board of directors, which also recently saw the appointment of seed industry veteran and previous head of Syngenta’s global vegetable seeds business Andre Goig.

By David Nitchman, GAI Media