Resurrect Bio Secures $8.1M Series A to Advance Gene-Edited Disease Resistance in Crops

Key Takeaways:

• Resurrect Bio completed the initial closing of its Series A round at $8.1 million.
• The round was led by Corteva through its Corteva Catalyst platform.
• Additional investors include Calculus Capital, Pymwymic, UKI2S, SynBioVen, and AgFunder.
• Funding will support expansion of the company’s high-throughput trait discovery platform.
• The company focuses on restoring suppressed disease resistance genes using gene editing.

Resurrect Bio Raises $8.1M in Series A Led by Corteva Catalyst

Resurrect Bio, a biotechnology company developing gene-edited disease resistance traits for crops, has announced the successful initial closing of its Series A funding round at $8.1 million. The investment was led by Corteva through its Corteva Catalyst platform, with participation from Calculus Capital, Pymwymic, UKI2S, SynBioVen, and AgFunder.

The company stated that the funding will be used to accelerate its high-throughput trait discovery platform and advance multiple disease resistance products toward commercial partnerships.

“We're thrilled to have secured this investment from such a distinguished group of partners who share our vision of delivering durable disease resistance to farmers,” said Dr. Cian Duggan, CEO of Resurrect Bio. “With Corteva's leadership and the support of Calculus Capital, Pymwymic and our existing investors, we're now positioned to scale our platform and deliver multiple resistance traits to the seed industry.”

Platform Combines AI and Gene Editing

Resurrect Bio’s platform integrates FloraFold® AI computational biology with high-throughput screening in plants to identify disease resistance genes that have been suppressed by pathogens. The approach involves making targeted edits to native plant genes to restore their natural defensive capabilities.

According to the company, this method aims to provide a faster alternative to conventional breeding by identifying and reactivating genetic traits that can improve crop resilience against plant diseases.

“Our collaboration with Resurrect Bio signals another step in our journey to discover new technologies that provide farmers more sustainable crop protection solutions,” said Tom Greene, Senior Director at Corteva and Global Leader for Corteva Catalyst. “We're excited to work with Resurrect Bio and explore the next generation of gene editing capabilities to further unlock the potential of our world-class germplasm.”