Pontifax and Five Seasons lead $10m round for Tropic Biosciences

The deal, which is Pontifax's first UK investment, also involved participation from Tekfen Ventures, Emerald Technology Ventures, Bits X Bites, Midven-RSF, and two family offices.

The fresh capital will enable the company to undertake greenhouse and field trials, and seek regulatory approval for its new varieties of coffee and banana plants. It will also enable the company to undertake further research with the intention of expanding its technology into new plant varieties.

Five Seasons managing partner Niccolo Manzoni and Pontifax managing partner Ben Belldegrun will take a seat on the company board as part of the deal.

Company
Headquartered in Norwich and founded in 2016, Tropic Biosciences uses gene editing to increase crop stability. It has a headcount of 17.

People
Tropic Biosciences – Gilad Gershon (CEO); Eyal Maori (chief science officer).
Pontifax AgTech – Ben Belldegrun (founder, managing partner).
Five Seasons Ventures – Niccolo Manzoni (founder, managing partner).

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• Topics
• Early-stage
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• United Kingdom
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