News Potatoes
Investors see potential in hybrid potato
Potato breeding company Solynta has raised €21 million from a group of investors. The Wageningen company wants to use the money to accelerate growth, broaden product development and scale up the commercial organization.
Solynta has developed a technique for hybrid potatoes. Instead of the traditional seed potatoes, the company is working on potato seed, true potato seed (TPS). The new varieties are free from viral disease because any infections from the seed potatoes are not carried over from the old to the new growing year. With the new technology, new varieties can be developed more quickly and it is easier to respond to specific characteristics that the market demands. In addition, TPS also offers logistical advantages. About 25 grams of seed is equal to 2.500 kilos of seed potatoes.
Scaling up
"With this financing round, we can further expand on the successes achieved previously and strengthen the focus on the downstream activities", says Hein Kruyt director of Solynta in a press release. "This will enable Solynta to aggressively accelerate its product pipeline and market-oriented activities."
Innovation Industries and Fortissimo are the main investors in Solynta. Both venture capitalists say they are impressed by the enormous progress Solynta has already made. “We are proud to support Solynta on its way to revolutionize potato breeding and fully exploit the potato's potential to feed the world,” said Harm de Vries, partner at Innovation Industries.
Jurphaas Lugtenburg
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.
