Computomics, a German agritech company, has secured €6.3 million in Series B funding to expand its climate-smart breeding platform. This round was led by Convent Capital Agri Food Fund, with significant contributions from High-Tech Gründerfonds, MBG Baden-Württemberg, and Amathaon Capital. The company's founders and scientific advisers also participated, and the European Union's InvestEU Fund provided additional support. Founded in 2012, Computomics utilizes machine learning and genomic analysis to predict crop performance under various environmental conditions, aiding breeders in selecting climate-resilient varieties.
What sets Computomics apart is its comprehensive approach. The company's technology integrates genomic data with environmental factors like temperature, rainfall, and soil conditions, as well as field trial measurements. By employing machine learning models, Computomics can forecast genotype performance in specific environments, enabling breeders to make informed decisions earlier in the breeding process.
The key innovation lies in the company's ×SeedScore platform. This platform is designed to streamline commercial breeding programs, helping breeders identify crop varieties that thrive in hotter and drier conditions. It also assesses stability across diverse environments and determines the best cultivation locations for specific varieties. Computomics collaborates with commercial breeders in various sectors, including field crops, forage crops, vegetables, and specialty crops.
The urgency of climate-smart breeding is underscored by the fact that breeding cycles are lengthy, and current market varieties may have been selected under different climatic conditions. As Dr. Sebastian J. Schultheiss, Computomics' co-founder and CEO, notes, breeders have long strived for climate resilience but lacked a method to anticipate it before field trials, which are time-consuming and costly.
Computomics offers a solution by providing a platform that accelerates the identification of climate-resilient crop varieties. This funding will enable the company to expand its reach, benefiting the agricultural industry and contributing to more sustainable food production practices. With its innovative technology and comprehensive platform, Computomics is poised to play a significant role in shaping the future of climate-smart agriculture.
