Cytotrait secures £3m seed funding to advance agricultural organelle engineering
Northern Gritstone led the seed round to support the rollout of the firm's crop technology across major food species.
Cytotrait is a UK biotechnology firm that develops organelle engineering technologies to improve agricultural productivity and sustainability.
Cytotrait has secured £3m in seed funding to advance its proprietary organelle engineering platform for agricultural applications. Northern Gritstone led the financing round, with additional backing from the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund and the Northern Universities Ventures Fund.
The fresh capital will enable the biotechnology company to scale its Mutant Organelle Selection System technology and expand research programmes across major crop species such as wheat, maize, potato and canola. The initiatives target enhanced yields, climate resilience and carbon sequestration capabilities.
Originating as a spinout from the University of Manchester, the firm aims to address long-standing limitations in conventional genetic modification by targeting plant chloroplasts and mitochondria directly.
From the founder
"Food security and sustainability are two of our most pressing global challenges, and issues that we must be prepared to face today to ensure we are ready to meet the needs of tomorrow. We developed MOSS with those challenges in mind – a unique crop engineering solution capable of streamlining regulatory pathways and generating crops with new, enhanced, and more carbon-conscious traits. Thank you to our investors, whose support reaffirms our belief in the potential of MOSS to bring about a new frontier in crop technology."
Junwei Ji
Co-Founder & Executive Director at Cytotrait
Investor perspective
"Cytotrait is a prime example of the world-class innovation from the North of England’s universities and the ambitious founders and teams we see on our venture building program, NG Studios. Northern Gritstone is very pleased to be working with Dr Ji and the team and look forward to positive results from this first tranche of new development programmes."
Duncan Johnson
chief executive, Northern Gritstone
Use of funds
- 01Continue product development
- 02Fund research and development
- 03Expand into international markets
Investors
Duncan Johnson
Northern Gritstone
Hassan Mahmudul
UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund
Northern Universities Ventures Fund