Ghent-based agtech firm Rainbow Crops has raised €9.7 million in an oversubscribed seed round led by Italian venture capital firm LIFTT and its vehicle LIFTT EuroInvest, with participation from AIF (Agri Investment Fund), PINC, and VIB, Corteva via Corteva Catalyst and Maia Ventures, as Vestbee was informed.
- Founded in 2021 by Giacomo Bastianelli and Hilde Nelissen, Rainbow Crops develops AI-driven crop engineering technology designed to improve complex agronomic traits including yield stability, drought tolerance, heat resilience, and input efficiency.
- Its Trait Foundry™ platform combines artificial intelligence, multiplex genome editing, and automated phenotyping to design and test combinations of genetic variants underlying complex traits.
- The system operates at scale, including greenhouse screening capacity of up to 16,000 plants per cycle, and has already been validated in maize through proof-of-concept and field trials.
Details of the deal
- The fresh capital will be used to accelerate development of its multiplex genome editing platform, expand its application across additional crops, and scale the creation of climate-resilient, high-performing crop varieties through partnerships with seed and breeding companies.
“This investment allows us to accelerate the transition from early validation to systematic deployment of our platform. Our goal is to accelerate complex trait engineering and make it accessible to partners globally," claims Giacomo Bastianelli, CEO and co-founder of Rainbow Crops.
