Key Takeaways
- Rainbow Crops has raised €9.7 million in an oversubscribed seed round to accelerate its AI-supported multiplex genome editing platform, expand into additional crops, and grow its team across scientific and technical functions.
- The round was led by Italian venture capital firm LIFTT and its vehicle LIFTT EuroInvest, with participation from existing investors AIF, PINC, and VIB, and new investors Corteva (via its Corteva Catalyst™ platform) and Maia Ventures.
- Rainbow Crops' proprietary Trait Foundry™ platform integrates AI, multiplex genome editing, precision breeding, and automated phenotyping to engineer complex agronomic traits such as yield and stress resilience at scale.
- Proof of concept has been achieved in corn, with early field validation in place and a growing proprietary data advantage underpinning investor confidence.
- The company has received backing from the Gates Foundation and has access to VIB's scientific expertise and research infrastructure, alongside engagement with leading seed companies.
Rainbow Crops Raises €9.7M to Scale Genome Editing Platform
Rainbow Crops, a next-generation agtech company developing improved crop varieties through the engineering of complex agronomic traits, has announced a €9.7 million seed funding round. The oversubscribed raise will be used to accelerate the company's AI-supported multiplex genome editing capabilities, deploy its platform across additional crops, and expand its scientific and technical team.
“This investment allows us to accelerate the transition from early validation to systematic deployment of our platform. Our goal is to accelerate complex trait engineering and make it accessible to partners globally,” said Giacomo Bastianelli, CEO and Co-founder of Rainbow Crops.
“This round signals strong external validation and positions Rainbow Crops as an emerging category leader in AI-driven, multiplex genome engineering. We are now focused on innovative partnerships and on delivering real-world impact in the field,” added Bastianelli.
Who Led the Round and Who Participated
The seed round was led by LIFTT, an Italian venture capital company, together with its investment vehicle LIFTT EuroInvest. Existing investors AIF (Agri Investment Fund), PINC, and VIB also participated in the round, alongside new investors Corteva — through its Corteva Catalyst™ investment platform — and Maia Ventures. The oversubscribed nature of the round is seen by the company as a signal of strong investor confidence in the platform's potential.
“Rainbow Crops is a compelling example of breakthrough innovation in agritech — a category-defining platform that integrates AI, genome editing, and real-world validation to address critical crop breeding challenges. At LIFTT, we are proud to support and invest in such a visionary project,” said Edoardo Bianchi, Project Manager at LIFTT.
Rainbow Crops' Trait Foundry™ Platform Explained
Rainbow Crops' Trait Foundry™ platform combines artificial intelligence, multiplex genome editing, precision breeding, and automated phenotyping to systematically identify, generate, and evaluate combinations of genetic variants that underlie complex agronomic traits. The platform produces populations of plants with rationally designed genetic diversity by pairing multiplex genome editing with conventional breeding approaches, enabling the efficient exploration and selection of multi-gene trait architectures at scale.
The approach targets traits such as yield improvement and stress resilience — characteristics that have historically been slow, expensive, and difficult to engineer reliably through traditional methods. As climate volatility increases pressure on agricultural systems and regulatory frameworks shift to enable wider adoption of gene editing, the company positions its platform as a faster and more predictable route to delivering improved crop varieties. Proof of concept has been established in corn.
Validation, Partnerships, and What Comes Next
Investor confidence in Rainbow Crops is underpinned by several external validation signals: early field results in major crops including corn, backing from the Gates Foundation, and access to VIB's scientific expertise and research infrastructure. The company has also reported engagement with leading seed companies, which the firm views as evidence of commercial interest in its platform.
The funding will support Rainbow Crops' transition from early-stage validation to broader, systematic deployment of its technology across multiple crops and geographies, with a focus on building partnerships and demonstrating measurable field-level impact.
