Disruptive potato breeder Solynta secures strong backing

25 grams potato seeds instead of 2500 kilogram potato tubers as starting material, the Holy Grail in potato breeding, receives strong support as Solynta announced the completion of a €16 million series B financing round by new investors Fortissimo Capital and Innovation Industries as well as existing investors.

Solynta will use this financing round to continue its potato breeding activities and to build a strong commercial organization that can address the billion dollar challenges within the potato supply chain. Solynta is a leading potato breeding and biotechnology company headquartered in the Netherlands. Solynta has invented and established hybrid potato breeding based on pure inbred parent lines, a game changing (non-GMO) breeding technology platform. This enables a seed based supply chain which would allow 25 grams of seeds as starting material instead of 2500 kilogram of tubers. It also allows for the fast and predictable breeding for beneficial traits, such as for example disease resistances, and by this reducing the need for pesticide applications manifold. In this way Solynta will finally unlock the $70 billion farmgate value crop. Solynta potatoes will not only improve potatoes, crisps and fries in the developed markets but will also support global food security through excellent starting material.

“We are thrilled to have attracted the backing and support of these top-notch investors and see their commitment to Solynta as a further validation of the potential of our hybrid potato breeding platform,” says Hein Kruyt, Solynta’s CEO. “The proceeds of this financing round combined with the expertise of Fortissimo Capital and Innovation Industries will enable us to drive and expand Solynta’s game changing approach in potato breeding. We look forward to working with them and use their expertise and guidance to unlock potatoes full potential.”

Yuval Cohen, managing partner of Fortissimo Capital says: “One of the most promising fields in which Fortissimo Capital has been investing is innovation in agriculture. We have invested in a number of excellent companies in recent years among them hybrid seed companies such as Origene Seeds and Equinom. We believe Solynta provides yet another revolutionary offering with huge potential to transform the entire potato industry.”

“We are very excited about our investment in Solynta”, says Harm de Vries, partner at Innovation Industries. “Solynta makes breeding predictable. This has already resulted in a continuous flow of improved products such as late blight resistant potatoes. We are looking forward to working closely with the company and its excellent management team.”

Wageningen University & Research is elated with the opportunity the financing round offers Solynta to scale up. Sebastiaan Berendse Corporate Director Value Creation: “It shows university spin offs and R&D collaboration with small and medium-sized enterprises offer important routes to application and global impact of WUR knowledge. In order to enhance the innovation capacity of our domain, we will continue to expand our partnerships with investors, such as Innovation Industries, corporates and entrepreneurs.”