September 11, 2019

By Lynda Kiernan

ZeaKal, a California-based plant genetics innovator, has made two major announcements: that it has closed a Series C oversubscribed at $15 million, and the addition of former DuPont Pioneer (now Corteva Agriscience) president Paul Schickler to its leadership team. 

The total $15 million Series C, which was facilitated by ZeaKal’s lead investor Finistere Ventures, includes a $10 million investment from Canopy Rivers that closed in June of this year. Finistere and Middleland Capital also participated in the round. 

“Our investment in ZeaKal, the fifth consecutive international transaction for Canopy Rivers, builds on our thesis of selecting globally scalable and innovative processes, products, and technologies from complementary industries, and applying them to the cannabis and hemp economy,” said Mary Dimou, director of business development at Canopy Rivers in June. 

Headquartered in San Diego, ZeaKal is the developer of PhotoSeed™, a proprietary technology that sustainably increases photosynthesis, improves crop yields, and enhances nutritional profiles by increasing a plant’s intrinsic photosynthetic capacity, or its ability to convert more sunlight and carbon dioxide into energy for growth. 

This results in better seed and grain yields, higher oil and protein content, improved macronutrient profiles, and higher profit margins for farmers. Meanwhile, consumers gain access to better nutritional profiles and the world gains a more environmentally friendly system of producing enough food to meet growing global demand.

“Agriculture is innovating to meet the changing food and nutritional demands for the next 30 years,” said Schickler. “Taking full advantage of the miracle of photosynthesis can help meet this demand in a sustainable fashion, and I am excited to join the ZeaKal team at such a pivotal time for the industry and the company.”

Over the course of his 40-year career with DuPont Pioneer, Schickler held a range of leadership positions focusing in innovation, sustainability, and farm profitability. He gathered a strong leadership team, and built a network of deep customer and partner relationships that were key to the company’s significant growth. Now, in his new role, Schickler will leverage this experience for ZeaKal.

“I have focused my full attention on areas that address productivity, value and sustainability,” said Schickloer. “ZeaKal’s ability to improve crop yield and composition with its PhotoSeed™ technology fits perfectly with that focus.”

“Having one of the most influential and accomplished executives in agriculture join ZeaKal’s leadership team is a significant milestone for the company,” noted ZeaKal founder and CEO Han Chen. 

“Paul will be a transformative force in expanding our global footprint, building new partnerships and crystalizing our growth strategy as a leading seeds and traits innovator. We are extremely grateful that Finistere Ventures, our long-term investor and supporter was able to bring us together.”  

After years of field trials spanning a diverse range of species in the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand have demonstrated the efficacy and success of ZeaKal’s technology, the company plans to use the funding from this Series C to rapidly expand its commercial focus, giving farmers and consumers the ability to benefit from a more sustainable agricultural ecosystem. 

“We’ve spent a lot of time examining bottlenecks to plant growth, and ZeaKal’s technology relieves a major one: carbon assimilation inefficiency,” noted Spencer Maughan, co-founder and partner, Finistere Ventures. “Partnering with ZeaKal since its inception as its lead investor and working closely with Paul Schickler over the years, we look forward to helping navigate the next phase of ZeaKal’s growth as it uses the latest funding to roll out its technology across multiple crops.”

– 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.