Benson Hill Biosystems, a St. Louis, Mo.-based agricultural technology company, closed a $25m Series B funding.

The round was co-led by Lewis & Clark Ventures and Prelude Ventures, with participation from Fall Line Capital and S2G Ventures and existing investors Alexandria Venture Investments, Cultivation Capital, iSelect Fund, Mercury Fund, Middleland Capital, Missouri Technology Corporation, Prolog Ventures and TechAccel. As part of the financing, David Russell of Lewis & Clark Ventures and Mark Cupta of Prelude Ventures will join the Benson Hill board of directors.

The company intends to use the funds to further advance its computational platform.

Founded in 2012 by Matthew Crisp, CEO, Benson Hill Biosystems leverages cloud biology, comprised of cloud computing, big data analytics and plant biology, to enable companies of all sizes to improve crop genetics. CropOS™ is a cognitive engine that uses machine learning to continuously advance, enabling researchers to predict which seeds will produce a desired trait. The platform outputs can be deployed in crop plants by using a spectrum of approaches and tools, from breeding to genome editing to transgenics.

The company’s first application of CropOS identified traits to increase crop yields by improving photosynthesis, one of the most fundamental and complex plant systems.

FinSMEs

28/03/2017