OlsAro Crop Biotech raises 5.75 MSEK to enable adaptation of farming to climate change
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After seven years of research OlsAro did in mid 2021 announce the recruitment of a new CEO, Elén Faxö, as the starting point of the commercial scale-up journey. Today OlsAro announces the successful closing of a 5.75 MSEK funding round aimed at fueling the commercialization of salt tolerant wheat and additional traits to adapt farming to climate change.
The investment round attracted investors such as Aventure (Rickard and Björn Öste, Oatly founders) ABW Capital (Felix Edwards Mannheimer, Co-owner & scale up at Epidemic Sound) Mercapri (Åke Andersson, founder of Swedish Oat Fibre), Vasa Angels I, Kaponjären, Eastcoast Capital, Peter Rundlöf and also the company´s existing investor GU Ventures.
The secured investment will finance the sustainable growth of the company including strengthening the team and to further develop ongoing and new commercial collaborations. Complementing activities on the initial target market Bangladesh, with initial field trials on additional markets in Asia and Africa.
We are grateful for the trust shown in OlsAro, and humble for the great scale-up competence that we along with the funding have been able to attract. With this funding we look forward to strengthening commercial collaborations and to start increase our geographical focus says Elén Faxö, CEO at OlsAro.
Commercialisation of salt tolerant wheat lines is the initial target for OlsAros scaleup journey. Today there are 833 million hectares of salt-affected soils around the globe (8.7% of the planet) and 20 to 50 percent of all irrigated soils in all continents are too salty. Meaning that the market and the potential impact is massive, with over 1.5 billion people (!) worldwide facing significant challenges in growing food due to soil degradation. OlsAro are also developing markers for salt tolerance as well as being an enabler of additional traits in wheat.
The company envisions its solutions to be one important piece of the puzzle for soil heath and food security globally by enabling cultivation and restoration on otherwise fallow land. Giving great incentives both from a business as well as a social perspective to adapt cultivation with OlsAros solutions.
"OlsAro has the potential to make unfarmable land farmable and restore soils affected by climate change. That is what I call a high impact company" – says Sofia Ström, chairperson at OlsAro, Business Developer and responsible for sustainability at GU Ventures.
For more information please contact:
Elén Faxö, CEO. Mail: elen.faxo@olsaro.com. Phone: +46705396400
Sofia Ström, Chair. Mail: sofia.strom@ventures.gu.se, Phone: +46707131150
About OlsAro Crop Biotech AB
OlsAro, which is one of GU Venture's incubator companies, has developed a unique salt-tolerant wheat. The seed addresses a gigantic global problem with salt-contaminated soil caused by, among other things, climate change and irrigation. Calculations show that 8,7% of land globally and as mucha as 20-50% of the irrigated land globally is contaminated with salt and that the proportion is increasing. The problem is not only acute in a number of developing countries but also in large areas of Europe. Ongoing climate change with rising sea levels and more frequent periods of drought is expected to worsen the situation further.
OlsAro's unique technology is also expected to contribute also to seeds with several other valuable properties, such as increased protein content, modified fiber content.
Wheat, together with maize and rice, is the world's most important crop.
For more information www.olsaro.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/olsaro
About GU Ventures AB
GU Ventures builds businesses out of groundbreaking ideas that help shape a better tomorrow and is top-ranked by UBI Global Index as one of the world's 20 leading university-run incubators. We finance and develop new innovative business ideas with connections to the University of Gothenburg, which is one of northern Europe's largest universities. Our mission is commercialize the innovations, which leads to the utilization of research and skills, renewal of the business community, job creation and sustainable growth. Our passionate team of company builders, financial experts, IP and legal talent are dedicated supporters of our companies and ensure their successes. Since our starting point in 1995, GU Ventures has developed over 200 new business ideas of which 130 are in business today and of which 14 are listed. Our portfolio consists of 70 holdings and some projects. In the latest survey, 87% of companies match the global sustainability goals set by the UN. GU Ventures is wholly owned by the Swedish state and managed by the University of Gothenburg. Feel free to read more at:www.guventures.com.