RTP Startup Traitology Raises $25M Seed Funding to Target Soybean Genome

Headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, is Traitology, a new digital biology startup with the goal to more effectively develop crop traits resulting in improved yields, extended growing seasons, greater resilience to climate change, and stronger defenses against pests.

Now, with $25 million in Seed funding from GDM Holdings S.A., a conglomerate of global businesses specializing in plant genetics, Traitology has the backing it needs to continue its work using custom computational biology pipelines together with cutting-edge breeding technologies to develop products that are beneficial to both people and the environment - beginning with soybeans.

Traitology founder Fayaz Khazi, Ph.D., stated that soybeans were chosen as the first row crop of focus due to the outsized influence the crop has on human, livestock, and aquaculture diets, adding that the sustainable and resilient production of plant-based proteins is critical for nutrition and the health of the planet.

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