London-based agricultural biotechnology company Biographica has raised £7 million in a funding round aimed at accelerating the development of next-generation crop traits using artificial intelligence. The round was led by Faber VC, with participation from SuperSeed, Cardumen Capital, The Helm, EQT Foundation, and Sie Ventures.
Existing investors Chalfen Ventures, Entrepreneurs First, Nucleus Capital, Dhyan Ventures, Saras Capital, and Ventures Together also took part, underscoring continued confidence in Biographica’s approach to transforming agricultural research and development.
Tackling a Major Bottleneck in Crop Development
Developing new crop traits such as drought tolerance, disease resistance, or improved nutritional value is a lengthy and costly process. From initial discovery to commercial deployment, it can take more than a decade and require hundreds of millions of pounds in investment. One of the biggest constraints in this process is gene identification—pinpointing which genes are responsible for desirable traits.
Biographica is seeking to overcome this bottleneck by applying AI-driven discovery methods to crop genetics. The company’s platform analyses large-scale biological and genomic data to identify promising genetic targets in a matter of weeks, rather than years. These targets can then be used to guide gene editing or precision breeding programmes.
According to the company, this approach can reduce development timelines by up to five years while significantly lowering research and development costs.
AI Platform Delivers Faster and Deeper Insights
In pilot projects conducted with seed producers and precision breeding companies, Biographica’s AI platform has demonstrated a substantial performance advantage over traditional methods. The company said it identified validated gene targets up to 12 times faster than conventional approaches and was also able to uncover novel targets that standard techniques failed to detect.
These results suggest that AI-based discovery could play a critical role in meeting global food security challenges, particularly as climate change places increasing pressure on crop resilience and productivity.
Biographica’s technology draws inspiration from advances in pharmaceutical research, where AI has helped transform trial-and-error pipelines into more predictable, data-driven systems.
Lab-in-the-Loop Model for Continuous Improvement
The company is now extending its platform by integrating AI-driven discovery with rapid experimental validation through what it calls a “lab-in-the-loop” model. This approach creates a continuous feedback cycle in which experimental results are fed back into the AI system, allowing models to learn and improve over time.
This closed-loop system is designed to increase both the speed and reliability of trait development, reducing the risk associated with downstream testing and commercialisation.
Cecily Price, chief executive of Biographica, said the company is applying proven ideas from other life sciences sectors to agriculture. “We’ve seen AI reshape pharma, turning trial-and-error pipelines into learnable biological systems — and it works,” she said. “We’re bringing that same discipline to crops.”
Strategic Partnership with BASF | Nunhems
Alongside the funding announcement, Biographica revealed a new partnership with BASF | Nunhems, the vegetable seeds business of chemical and agricultural giant BASF. The collaboration will focus on supporting the development of new crop varieties, combining Biographica’s AI-driven discovery with BASF’s global breeding and commercialisation capabilities.
The partnership highlights growing interest from major agricultural players in AI-based tools that can accelerate innovation while reducing cost and risk.
Scaling Platform and Industry Partnerships
The new funding will be used to expand Biographica’s data and AI platform, develop additional crop traits, and deepen partnerships across the global seed industry. As pressure mounts to produce more resilient and sustainable crops, investors and industry players alike are increasingly looking to AI as a way to modernise agricultural R&D.
With fresh capital, strategic backing, and industry partnerships in place, Biographica is positioning itself at the intersection of artificial intelligence and food security—an area likely to see sustained investment and attention in the years ahead.