BetterSeeds
BetterSeeds is an Israeli agricultural biotechnology company that provides seed companies with an integrated gene editing platform combining compact 2nd-generation CRISPR editors, the proprietary EDGE™ engineered plant virus delivery system, and ready-to-deploy trait modules for drought, heat, and disease/pest resistance under a single fixed-royalty commercial agreement.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersGivat Haim, Israel
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What BetterSeeds does
BetterSeeds Ltd. is a privately held Israeli agricultural biotechnology company that has built an integrated gene editing platform aimed at seed companies outside the top-tier agribusiness tier. Its platform unifies three modules under one commercial agreement: compact 2nd-generation CRISPR editors (including the ultra-compact Cas12l nuclease licensed via Caszyme and Corteva Agriscience), the proprietary EDGE™ engineered plant virus delivery system designed to bypass the tissue culture bottleneck of first-generation transformation/regeneration methods, and a suite of ready-to-deploy trait modules covering drought, heat, and disease/pest pressure. The company positions the full stack as a 'one bundle, one fixed royalty, one vendor' alternative to multi-vendor gene-editing buildouts.
The company monetizes through a three-part pricing structure: a minimal upfront platform access fee, a recurring annual membership (marketed as costing less than one full-time researcher), and a single fixed commercialization royalty applied regardless of how many platform components a partner uses, with the explicit design intent of eliminating royalty stacking. BetterSeeds also operates three wholly owned subsidiaries that commercialize platform-derived products: AgriNetica (allergen-reduced peanuts, including the Nurtured Nuts partnership with CoreWellness), AgroNetica (sustainable cacao genetics), and Better Pulse (black-eyed pea protein for plant-based foods). Distribution is handled through direct enterprise sales ([email protected]) and the partnership-led subsidiary commercial channels, with marketing concentrated on earned media (Forbes, Newsweek, LAWeekly, VCPost) and industry events (Davos 2026 AgriTech Forum, BioSTL ReACH Summit).
BetterSeeds is co-founded by Ido Margalit (CEO, formerly Syngenta) and Dr. Tal Sherman (CTO, formerly Syngenta traits project head), with Dr. Helmut Schramm (former President of Bayer CropScience) as Chairman and a Scientific Advisory Board that includes CRISPR pioneer Prof. Virginijus Šikšnys. The company has raised approximately $17.3 million across disclosed rounds from 2018 through 2021, with the largest being a $11.5 million round led by JITO Angel Network with OurCrowd in September 2021. No revenue is disclosed in the available source material, and the company's first commercial products (e.g., Nurtured Nuts) are pending regulatory clearance.
BetterSeeds firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- BetterSeeds
- Legal name
- BetterSeeds Ltd.
- Website
- https://betterseeds.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- BetterSeeds is an Israeli agricultural biotechnology company that provides seed companies with an integrated gene editing platform combining compact 2nd-generation CRISPR editors, the proprietary EDGE™ engineered plant virus delivery system, and ready-to-deploy trait modules for drought, heat, and disease/pest resistance under a single fixed-royalty commercial agreement.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
BetterSeeds industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Agricultural Biotechnology / Crop Gene Editing Platform
- NAICS
- Dry Pea and Bean Farming (111130), Oilseed (except Soybean) Farming (111120)
- SIC
- Agricultural Production-Crops (100), Agricultural Services (700), Patent Owners & Lessors (6794)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Gene Editing Trait Development (CRISPR/TALEN/ZFN) (AFABALAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Transformation & Tissue Culture Platforms (Plant regeneration, delivery systems) (AFABALAH), Biotechnology & Gene-Edited Trait Development (AFAGAIAG)
Keywords
Where BetterSeeds is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Givat Haim
- HQ country
- Israel
- HQ region
- Middle East
Offices1 record
Markets served
BetterSeeds business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Platform access / licensing: BetterSeeds sells integrated platform access (editors + EDGE™ delivery + trait modules) to seed companies under a single commercial agreement. Marketed as a "one bundle" package, with a minimal upfront access fee and bundled licensing.
- Annual membership: Recurring annual membership fee providing ongoing platform upgrades. Marketed as costing less than one full-time researcher, intended to deliver predictable recurring revenue while customers continue using the platform.
- Fixed commercialization royalty: Single fixed royalty rate applied at commercialization regardless of how many platform components are used. Designed to avoid royalty stacking and provide predictable economics for seed company partners.
- Subsidiary commercial sales (AgriNetica, AgroNetica, Better Pulse): BetterSeeds operates portfolio companies (AgriNetica - allergen-reduced peanuts; AgroNetica - sustainable cacao; Better Pulse - black-eyed pea protein) that commercialize platform-derived products, creating additional revenue streams and value-chain collaboration opportunities.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Minimal upfront access fee (one-time entry) |
| Subscription | Annual | Negligible annual membership (ongoing platform upgrades) |
| Outcome Based/ Performance | Multi-year contract | Fixed commercialization royalty (one rate, all components) |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
BetterSeeds product offering
Product offeringCore offering
BetterSeeds sells an integrated gene editing platform for crops that bundles compact 2nd-generation CRISPR editors, the proprietary EDGE™ engineered plant virus-based delivery system, and a suite of trait modules (drought, heat, disease/pest) into a single commercial agreement for seed companies. The platform supports non-transgenic, in-plant delivery of editing tools, eliminating the tissue culture bottleneck of first-generation systems and enabling deployment across diverse crops under a single fixed commercialization royalty.
Product overview
BetterSeeds operates a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on the BetterSeeds Platform, which unifies three core modules: Small CRISPR Editors (the gene editing component), EDGE™ Delivery (the engineered plant virus-based delivery component), and Trait Modules (predefined trait packages for drought, heat, and disease/pest resistance). The company commercializes this platform through three subsidiaries — AgriNetica (next-generation peanut genetics, including the allergen-less Nurtured Nuts product), AgroNetica (sustainable cacao genetics), and Better Pulse (high-performance plant protein from black-eyed peas) — translating the core gene editing technology into crop-specific and consumer-facing offerings.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- BetterSeeds Gene Editing Platform Integrated gene editing platform that bundles compact 2nd-generation CRISPR editors, the EDGE™ engineered plant virus-based delivery system, and a growing suite of trait modules (drought, heat, disease/pest) under a single commercial agreement for seed companies. Designed to enable non-transgenic, in-plant delivery of editing tools across diverse crops without tissue culture.
- EDGE™ Delivery Platform Engineered plant virus-based nuclease delivery platform that enables efficient, practical in-plant delivery of compact 2nd-generation gene-editing components, eliminating the crop-by-crop tissue culture bottleneck of traditional transformation/regeneration methods.
- Compact 2nd-Generation CRISPR Editors Small, compact 2nd-generation CRISPR editors engineered for delivery efficiency and broader crop applicability, reducing the friction of larger first-generation systems and compatible with the EDGE™ delivery platform.
- Climate-Resilience Trait Modules Ready-to-deploy gene-edited trait modules focused on drought tolerance, heat tolerance, and disease/pest resistance, packaged as part of the platform access bundle so seed companies can adopt validated targets rather than build them from scratch.
- AgriNetica Peanut Genetics (Nurtured Nuts) BetterSeeds subsidiary commercializing next-generation peanut genetics, including allergen-reduced and resilience-focused peanut programs (allergens, shelf life, yield, aflatoxin reduction, drought resilience), with the Nurtured Nuts allergen-less peanut commercialized via CoreWellness.
- AgroNetica Cacao Genetics BetterSeeds subsidiary dedicated to sustainable cacao genetics, applying the platform's gene editing capabilities to climate-stress resilience, disease resistance, and naturally caffeine-free cacao trees.
- Better Pulse Plant Protein BetterSeeds subsidiary producing high-performance plant protein ingredients from black-eyed peas for plant-based food applications, positioned at approximately 50% lower cost than soy for plant-based dairy use cases.
Quantifiable outcome
- Potentially cuts time and cost of gene editing by more than 50% compared with traditional tissue-culture-dependent approaches (via EDGE™ + Cas12l).
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use BetterSeeds
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
BetterSeeds technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
BetterSeeds partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered flagship / core platform partnership, strategic enabling partnership, program participation / ecosystem visibility, speaker / thought-leadership visibility and subsidiary-level commercial partnership (via agrinetica).
- Caszymeflagship / core platform partnershipBetterSeeds and Caszyme announced a collaboration to overcome the tissue culture bottleneck in plant gene editing by combining Caszyme's ultra-compact Cas12l nucleases with BetterSeeds' EDGE™ viral vector delivery platform. The partnership aims to eliminate or substantially reduce reliance on tissue culture, potentially cutting time and cost by more than 50% compared to traditional approaches. Corteva Agriscience has licensed Cas12l to both partners, enabling viral delivery of gene edits directly into crops.
- Corteva Agrisciencestrategic enabling partnershipCorteva Agriscience has licensed Cas12l to both BetterSeeds and Caszyme, enabling viral delivery of gene edits directly into crops and making CRISPR technology more accessible to a broader range of seed companies. License is upstream of the Caszyme co-development.
- BioSTL (GlobalSTL ReACH)program participation / ecosystem visibilityBetterSeeds was selected as part of the finalist cohort for BioSTL's ReACH AgriFood Innovation Summit (Feb 3-5, 2026, St. Louis), a program convening regenerative agri-food innovators.
- Newsweek (Davos 2026 AgriTech Forum)speaker / thought-leadership visibilityBetterSeeds featured among the expert speaker lineup at the Newsweek Davos 2026 AgriTech forum (January 22, 2026), covering data-driven agriculture, higher yields with lower impact, new financing models, and emerging crop-climate challenges.
- CoreWellnesssubsidiary-level commercial partnership (via agrinetica)CoreWellness and AgriNetica (a BetterSeeds subsidiary) announced a partnership to commercialize the world's first allergen-less peanut, developed using BetterSeeds' genome editing technology. The product, "Nurtured Nuts," is expected to debut after FDA review in the following year.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
BetterSeeds competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Inari Agriculture: US-based seed technology company using AI-driven gene editing and multiplex editing to develop step-change crop traits for the seed industry. Closest direct competitor in the 'platform for seed companies' framing.
- Pairwise: Plant gene-editing company applying CRISPR to row crops and fruit (pitless cherries, seedless blackberries), offering trait partnerships to seed and produce companies. Directly comparable business model of licensing edited traits to partners.
- Tropic Biosciences: UK-based agricultural gene-editing company focused on tropical crops (bananas, coffee, rice) using CRISPR. Overlaps with BetterSeeds' specialty-crop platform play and delivery-focused gene-editing approach.
- Cibus: US-based gene-editing company using its Rapid Trait Development System (RTDS) to develop non-transgenic traits in canola, rice, soybean, and other crops. Direct competitor in the non-transgenic, licensing-to-seed-companies model.
- Benson Hill: Crop improvement company combining plant genetics, AI, and gene editing to deliver improved soybeans and ingredient outputs to food/feed customers. Comparable in combining proprietary trait platform with downstream product commercialization.
- Calyxt: Plant-based gene-editing company (now operating under Cibus) developing non-transgenic traits in soybeans, alfalfa, and other crops. Comparable in regulatory positioning and trait-licensing GTM.
Emerging players
- CoverCress: Gene-edited cover crop company developing pennycress as a third crop between corn and soybeans, with a platform-plus-product model analogous to BetterSeeds' subsidiary approach.
Broad incumbents
- Syngenta: Global agribusiness with significant internal gene-editing and trait development capabilities across major row crops. Direct source of BetterSeeds' leadership pedigree (founders' prior employer) and a broader incumbent competitor for partner seed companies.
- Bayer CropScience: Global agribusiness and crop science leader with in-house gene editing and seed platforms. Connection to BetterSeeds through its Chairman (former President of Bayer CropScience); competitive incumbent in the seed-company customer set.
- Corteva Agriscience: Global pure-play agriculture company and licensor of Cas12l nucleases to both BetterSeeds and Caszyme. Strategic enabler partner but also a vertically integrated incumbent with internal gene-editing capabilities that competes for the same seed-company customers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
BetterSeeds social profiles
Digital presenceBetterSeeds compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
BetterSeeds financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
BetterSeeds leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
BetterSeeds subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries3 records
BetterSeeds funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
BetterSeeds M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about BetterSeeds
What does BetterSeeds do?
BetterSeeds sells an integrated gene editing platform for crops that bundles compact 2nd-generation CRISPR editors, the proprietary EDGE™ engineered plant virus-based delivery system, and a suite of trait modules (drought, heat, disease/pest) into a single commercial agreement for seed companies. The platform supports non-transgenic, in-plant delivery of editing tools, eliminating the tissue culture bottleneck of first-generation systems and enabling deployment across diverse crops under a single fixed commercialization royalty.
Is BetterSeeds a public or private company?
BetterSeeds is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was BetterSeeds founded?
BetterSeeds was founded in 2017. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is BetterSeeds based?
BetterSeeds is headquartered in Givat Haim, Israel, in the Middle East region.
How does BetterSeeds make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Platform access / licensing is the primary driver. The others are annual membership, fixed commercialization royalty and subsidiary commercial sales (AgriNetica, AgroNetica, Better Pulse).
Who are BetterSeeds's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Inari Agriculture, Pairwise, Tropic Biosciences, Cibus, Benson Hill and Calyxt. CoverCress is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Syngenta, Bayer CropScience and Corteva Agriscience.
Does BetterSeeds have an API?
No public API is recorded for BetterSeeds.
What industry is BetterSeeds in?
BetterSeeds's product category is Agricultural Biotechnology / Crop Gene Editing Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFABALAB, Gene Editing Trait Development (CRISPR/TALEN/ZFN), with a secondary code of AFABALAH, Transformation & Tissue Culture Platforms (Plant regeneration, delivery systems). Its NAICS code is 111130 and its SIC code is 100.