US-based plant genome technology developer Inari secured $208m in series D funding yesterday from investors including life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
Venture capital firm Flagship Pioneering co-led the round, which included G Squared, Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), Pavilion Capital, Rivas Capital and accounts managed by Banque Pictet.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities was represented in the round by its VC arm, Alexandria Venture Investments. It valued Inari at $1.2bn according to Bloomberg, increasing its overall funding to $352m.
Inari has created a plant breeding tool, SeeDesign, which allows seed growers to create more productive crop variations using gene-editing technology. The cash will be used to improve its technology platform and boost its corn and soybean product development pipeline across North and South America.
Acre Venture Partners, then the corporate venturing arm of packaged food producer Campbell Soup, took part in the company’s $89m series C round in mid-2019, investing alongside backers including Flagship Pioneering, ICD and EDBI.
Flagship Pioneering incubated Inari with $15m before returning for a $40m series B round in 2018 together with Acre Venture Partners and Alexandria Venture Investments.
Inari CEO Ponsi Trivisvavet said: “We are taking a nature-positive approach to advance new possibilities with seed using predictive design and advanced multiplex gene editing.
“Our technology matches the complexity and diversity of nature to address the needs of the planet and society. And we have the ability to enhance any seed for any geography, making our products – and impact – globally scalable.”
