Two new investors are to fund MoA Technology with a further £5 million extension to the company’s Series A funding round. Shanghai-based Bits x Bites and BGF, based in the UK and Ireland, have joined earlier investors bringing the total raised to around £12 million.
MoA Technology's ambition is to discover the next generation of sustainable herbicide chemistries with new modes of action from both natural and synthetic sources. The company has three innovative herbicide discovery platforms, (1) MoA GALAXY™, (2) MoA TARGET™ and (3) MoA SELECT™, designed to pinpoint new modes of action from both natural and synthetic sources. Screening in all three platforms is based on an in vivo plant model: a much better predictor of herbicide activity than standard in vitro models.
Bits x Bites invests in early-stage start-ups with transformative technologies in Agriculture and Food. Of foremost interest are threats to the food system in China.
BGF has invested in nearly 400 businesses since 2011 in a wide range of sectors including Energy, Healthcare, Food & Drink and Life Sciences. The focus is on supporting growth in entrepreneurial companies.
This further boost to funding will support the expansion and acceleration of our discovery programme, which will deliver new herbicides to benefit farmers worldwide.
MoA Tech CEO, Dr Virginia Corless