Revolutionizing Agriculture: Tropic’s Funding Boost to Launch Gene-Edited Bananas and Climate-Resilient Crops

Tropic, a startup based in Norwich and specializing in AgTech, has successfully closed its Series C financing round, raising €91.3 million ($105 million). The funding will be used to accelerate the global expansion of its banana and rice portfolios and advance its climate-resilient crop pipeline.

The round was co-led by Forbion’s Bioeconomy Fund and Corteva’s Corteva Catalyst investment platform, with significant participation from Just Climate, IQ Capital, ABN Amro, and Invest International. Existing investors such as Temasek, Five Seasons Ventures, Sucden Ventures, Genoa Ventures, and Polaris Partners also participated in the oversubscribed round.

As part of the financing, Joy Faucher from Forbion, Tom Greene from Corteva, and Siddarth Shrikanth from Just Climate will join Tropic’s Board of Directors. Gustavo Bassetti, Rob Scott, Onno van de Stolpe, and Alex Wilson will join as Board observers.

CEO of Tropic, Gilad Gershon, expressed excitement about the funding, emphasizing the company’s commitment to delivering breakthrough products to growers, exporters, and consumers worldwide. The investment will allow Tropic to scale production, meet growing demand, and expand into new crops, furthering its mission to become a leading tropical seeds company.

Founded in 2016 by Eyal Maori and Gilad Gershon, Tropic focuses on developing healthier, more resilient tropical crops using its GEiGS® platform and gene editing technologies like CRISPR. The company’s core portfolio includes banana and rice varieties designed for increased disease resistance and higher yields.

Tropic’s GEiGS® platform combines gene editing with gene silencing to enhance crop traits naturally. By targeting specific non-coding genes in host organisms, Tropic can improve disease resistance and regulate gene expression effectively.

In 2025, Tropic successfully launched new commercial banana varieties, including a non-browning banana and an extended shelf life variety. The company also made progress in developing Panama Disease (TR4) resistant bananas for commercial deployment by 2027.

With the new funding, Tropic plans to expand production capabilities, strengthen supply chains, and develop banana varieties resistant to diseases like TR4 and Black Sigatoka. The company will also focus on expanding its rice portfolio and entering new high-impact crops to address global food supply challenges.