By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media
Wild Bioscience, an Oxford, U.K.-based agtech pioneer in AI-powered precision crop breeding, has raised a massive $60 million in what it is describing as a Series A partnership. The investment, led by the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), a think tank founded by tech pioneer Larry Ellison, builds on support from existing backers Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), Braavos Capital and the University of Oxford, from which Wild Bio spun out in 2021. This capital infusion positions the company to scale its genomics platform, unlocking resilient, high-yield crop varieties equipped to strengthen global food security amid mounting climate challenges. This round also features a combined venture investment by EIT and OSE, the first joint-investment of its kind for these two entities.
As Wild Bio explained, “Wild plants thrive in every environment on Earth.” The company’s innovative solution involves the harnessing of these wild solutions to develop next-generation crops. Using gene editing on farms, the company has developed an AI-powered model to remove more carbon from the atmosphere while improving crop productivity and agricultural sustainability. Wild Bio finds ways to capture carbon through plants so not to compete with yield so farmers don’t need to face a tradeoff between farming carbon and farming food, per Wild Bio CEO Dr. Ross Hendron.
Wild Bio’s science analyzes hundreds of millions of years of plant evolution to pinpoint valuable genetic traits from wild species. These traits, such as improved drought tolerance and pest resistance, are then integrated into precision breeding strategies for elite crop varieties, according to the announcement, helping to address key challenges in modern farming.
The company originated at the University of Oxford, where co-founders Dr. Ross Hendron and Professor Steve Kelly launched it as a spin-out in 2021 to bring their research from the lab to practical applications in agriculture. Today, the Oxford-based team has expanded, with key crop projects in field trials across four different markets. With the capital infusion, Wild Bioscience plans to expand its R&D and commercial efforts, advancing early trial results toward viable, market-ready seed varieties.
Dr. Ross Hendron, Co-Founder and CEO of Wild Bio, stated, “Advancing agriculture has limitless potential to help people and the planet. So to achieve meaningful, scalable impact, we need the right investors who are truly aligned with that big vision. I’m deeply grateful to EIT and to our current investors for sharing our excitement about what we’ve accomplished so far, and for their united support as we embark on this ambitious growth journey together.”
Professor Steve Kelly, Head of the Plant Biology Institute at EIT and Co-Founder and CSO of Wild Bio, said, “Combining the groundbreaking research at EIT and Wild will create a powerful synergy that could reshape sustainable agriculture on a global scale. Together, we will accelerate our ability to bring new technologies to market and deliver innovative solutions that enhance crop resilience, boost yields, and promote environmental sustainability.”
After recently expanding from the U.S. to the U.K., Ellison’s EIT lists agriculture as one of its core areas of focus. Larry Ellison, Founder of EIT, CTO and Chairman of software giant Oracle, commented, “Wild Bio is using AI to better understand the lessons learned over millions of years of evolution encoded in plant genomes. Those insights combined with precision breeding has enabled Wild Bio to develop new varieties of crops with both higher yields and climate resilience. The ultimate goal is to grow these new crop varieties on a commercial scale and help provide food security around the world. EIT is committed to working with Wild Bio to reach this goal.”
The Ellison Institute of Technology originally launched as the Ellison Institute of Transformative Medicine in Los Angeles, California with a sharp focus on cancer research and public health. Over the years, it has evolved into a multifaceted powerhouse addressing humanity’s biggest hurdles across four pillars: food security and sustainable agriculture, medical science and healthcare, clean energy and climate change, and government policy and economics. This strategic pivot demonstrates EIT’s commitment to ventures like Wild Bioscience, channeling tech-driven insights toward resilient food systems.
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