Biographica secures €8 million to speed up climate-resilient crop development
Biographica, a London-based AgTech startup using artificial intelligence to redesign how new crop varieties are developed, has raised €8 million (£7 million) in fresh funding. The round will support the creation of climate-resilient, higher-yield and more nutritious crops at a time when global food systems face growing pressure from climate change, population growth and limited natural resources.
The funding 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 joined the round. Alongside the investment, Biographica announced a strategic partnership with BASF | Nunhems, one of the world’s leading seed companies.
“We’ve seen AI reshape pharma, turning trial-and-error pipelines into learnable biological systems, and it works. We’re bringing that same discipline to crops,” said Cecy Price, CEO and co-founder of Biographica.
Applying drug discovery thinking to agriculture
Founded in 2022 by Cecy Price and Dominic Hall, Biographica applies techniques from AI-driven drug discovery to agricultural biotechnology. The company focuses on one of the biggest challenges in crop development: identifying which genes control valuable traits such as drought tolerance, disease resistance and improved nutrition.
Price previously worked on the European launch of the world’s first gene-editing therapy, while Hall completed a PhD in computational genomics, where he built machine learning models to understand gene regulation. Together, they aim to bring a more precise and data-led approach to crop genetics.
According to Biographica, developing a new crop trait can take more than ten years and cost millions. The biggest bottleneck is identifying the right genetic targets that breeders or gene-editing teams need to modify. Biographica’s AI platform addresses this by analysing large-scale biological data to pinpoint the most promising gene targets in a matter of weeks.
Faster discovery, lower costs
The company claims its technology can cut crop development timelines by up to five years and reduce research and development costs by millions of euros. In pilot projects with seed and precision breeding companies, Biographica says its platform identified validated gene targets up to 12 times faster than traditional approaches.
Beyond speed, the platform is designed to uncover genetic targets that standard methods often miss. This opens the door to entirely new traits that can improve crop resilience, productivity and nutritional value.
Biographica is also building what it calls a “lab-in-the-loop” model. This approach combines AI-driven discovery with rapid experimental validation, creating a self-improving feedback cycle. The model, already widely used in drug discovery, allows the system to learn from experimental results and continuously refine its predictions.
Growing investor interest in AI-led AgTech
Biographica’s funding round comes amid strong investor interest in AI-enabled agricultural innovation across Europe. In the UK, Wild Bioscience raised €51 million to advance AI-guided crop improvement, highlighting confidence in computational approaches to plant genetics.
Across the wider European AgTech ecosystem, investment has flowed into related areas of the agricultural value chain.
- Source.ag raised €15.2 million to scale AI software for greenhouse operations
- Switzerland-based Ecorobotix secured €90 million to expand precision farming robotics
- SAIA Agrobotics closed a €10 million round for greenhouse automation
- ReSoil raised €4 million for regenerative agriculture projects
- SugaROx secured €1.1 million to develop crop-enhancing biostimulants
- Messium raised €3.8 million for satellite-based crop analytics
Together, these funding rounds represent around €175 million of disclosed investment into AI-driven AgTech and agri-bio companies in 2025. Biographica’s raise sits within this broader shift towards data-led solutions for improving sustainability and resilience in food production.
Industry partnerships and commercial traction
Biographica’s partnership with BASF | Nunhems reflects growing interest from established seed companies in AI-first approaches to trait discovery. According to the startup, several early pilot projects have already progressed into commercial agreements, with AI-identified gene targets moving into testing and development pipelines.
“Our partnerships with BASF | Nunhems and other leading seed companies show the industry is ready for AI-first approaches to trait discovery, to bring high-value crop varieties to market in seasons, not decades,” Price added.
The company says its technology can be deployed quickly across different crops and traits, making it suitable for both traditional breeding and gene-editing programmes.
Using funding to scale impact
Biographica plans to use the new funding to expand its proprietary data collection, extend its AI platform to support additional crop traits, and deepen commercial relationships across the global seed industry.
“With climate change intensifying the pressure on agricultural systems, improving crop genetics is the most powerful lever we have to sustainably increase yields and build resilience,” said Sofia Santos, Partner at Faber VC. “Biographica is redefining how agricultural innovation happens, and this investment round will allow them to scale their impact globally.”
As food security becomes an increasingly urgent global issue, Biographica’s approach highlights how advances in artificial intelligence and computational biology are beginning to reshape the future of agriculture.
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