Tropic Biosciences

What Tropic Biosciences does

Tropic Biosciences is a UK-headquartered agricultural biotechnology company founded in 2016 that develops gene-edited varieties of tropical crops — primarily banana, coffee, and rice — for global growers, seed distributors, and food supply chains. The company operates a proprietary gene-editing platform called GEiGS (Gene Editing induced Germplasm Screening), complemented by the GEiGS-BioCompute computational layer that screens for agriculturally valuable genetic variation across multiple crop species. Regulatory approvals for its gene-edited varieties have been secured across 11 countries, which materially de-risks commercialization in regulated tropical agriculture markets.

The company transitioned from a pure R&D operation to commercial sales in 2025, marking its first revenue inflection point. It has raised over $178 million across multiple funding rounds, including an oversubscribed $105 million Series C in March 2026, and has scaled headcount to 140+ employees. Operationally, Tropic Biosciences is headquartered in Norwich, UK, with regional offices in Singapore and Bangladesh to support field trials and commercial deployment across key tropical crop geographies. Revenue mechanics are expected to combine seed sales, licensing, and royalty arrangements with regional partners, though specific pricing and channel structures have not been publicly disclosed.

Name

Tropic Biosciences

Legal name

Tropic Biosciences UK Ltd

Website

https://tropic.bio

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Tropic Biosciences is a UK-based agricultural biotechnology company that develops gene-edited tropical crops — banana, coffee, and rice — using its proprietary GEiGS platform, serving global growers and seed distributors with commercial sales beginning in 2025.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Biotechnology / Plant Genetics

NAICS

Nursery and Tree Production (111421)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)

akta.pro primary industry

Gene Editing Trait Development (CRISPR/TALEN/ZFN) (AFABALAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Trait Discovery & Functional Genomics (Target ID/Validation) (AFABALAC), Transformation & Tissue Culture Platforms (Plant regeneration, delivery systems) (AFABALAH), Seed Trait Licensing & IP Management (Licensing, freedom-to-operate) (AFABALAJ), Digital Breeding & Bioinformatics Software (Breeding informatics, decision tools) (AFABALAL)

Keywords

• Gene-edited crops
• Agricultural biotechnology
• Tropical crop varieties
• Plant genetics
• Crop disease resistance

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Sale of Gene-Edited Crop Varieties: Tropic generates revenue from selling its proprietary gene-edited banana varieties (non-browning, extended shelf-life, disease-resistant) to commercial growers, exporters, and distributors globally. Commercial products launched in 2025 with consumer availability in 2026.
2. GEiGS Technology Licensing: Tropic licenses its proprietary GEiGS technology platform to other agricultural companies (Corteva, Syngenta, BASF, Genus, Bejo, British Sugar) for developing disease-resistant traits in various crops. Revenue generated through licensing agreements and collaboration fees.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Tropic Biosciences develops and commercializes proprietary gene-edited varieties of tropical crops (bananas, coffee, and rice) using its GEiGS platform that combines CRISPR gene editing with RNA interference. The company sells these improved seed varieties to commercial growers, exporters, and seed companies while licensing its GEiGS technology platform to major agribusiness firms such as Corteva, Syngenta, BASF, Genus, Bejo, and British Sugar for trait development across multiple crops.

Product overview

Tropic Biosciences is a pioneering tropical seeds company developing gene-edited varieties of tropical crops using its proprietary GEiGS® platform. The core product portfolio focuses on three crops: bananas (non-browning, extended shelf-life, TR4-resistant, and Black Sigatoka-resistant varieties), coffee (low caffeine and improved solubility varieties), and rice (blast-resistant and increased yield varieties). The GEiGS® technology platform combines CRISPR gene editing with RNA interference to enable non-transgenic disease resistance traits and is also licensed to third-party companies for use in other crops. The company transitioned from research to commercialization in 2025 with the launch of its first non-browning and extended shelf-life banana products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GEiGS: Proprietary Gene Editing induced Gene Silencing technology platform that combines precision gene editing with RNA interference to develop disease-resistant and enhanced crop varieties.
• GEiGS-BioCompute

Products and services

• Non-Browning Banana Gene-edited banana variety that stays fresh and yellow after peeling and slicing by switching off the polyphenol oxidase gene. The first new commercial banana variety in over 75 years, for commercial growers and retailers.
• Extended Shelf-Life Banana Gene-edited banana variety that extends green life by up to 12 days, enabling growers to harvest at greater maturity and exporters to ship longer distances with up to 50% less waste.
• TR4-Resistant Banana Gene-edited banana variety with natural resistance to Fusarium Tropical Race 4 (TR4), a devastating fungal disease threatening the global banana industry. Targeted for commercial deployment from 2027.
• Black Sigatoka-Resistant Banana Gene-edited banana variety with natural resistance to Black Sigatoka disease, which currently requires 30-60 pesticide applications annually at over $2,000 per hectare. Pipeline product.
• Low Caffeine Coffee Naturally low caffeine coffee created by turning off caffeine-producing genes within the bean, replacing chemical decaffeination processes for a healthier, simpler supply chain.
• Improved Solubility Coffee Coffee varieties with improved solubility for instant coffee, enabling higher quality at lower processing temperatures with lower energy costs.
• Rice Blast-Resistant Rice Gene-edited rice variety with natural resistance to rice blast fungus, which destroys up to 30% of annual rice harvests in some geographies, using GEiGS technology to activate gene silencing against the pathogen.
• Increased Yield Rice Gene-edited rice variety with increased yields to produce more rice with less land, water, and emissions, improving food security and reducing pressure on natural resources.
• GEiGS Technology Platform Proprietary Gene Editing induced Gene Silencing platform combining CRISPR gene editing with RNA interference (RNAi) to redirect silencing functions toward target genes including pathogens and pests. Licensed to agribusiness companies for trait development across multiple crops.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduces transportation waste by up to 50% with Extended Shelf Life Banana variety
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• BejocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 September 2025Collaboration with vegetable breeding company Bejo to develop durable disease resistance against multiple diseases in Bejo's elite carrot germplasm using GEiGS technology. Aims to deliver next-generation non-GMO products.
• Syngenta Vegetable SeedscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 May 2025Strategic collaboration deploying GEiGS technology to strengthen Syngenta's diverse vegetable portfolio. Aims to develop sustainable crop products to tackle current and future threats that farmers face.
• Corteva AgrisciencecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 September 2023Strategic collaboration to develop non-transgenic disease resistance traits in corn and soybean using Tropic's GEiGS technology. Combines Corteva's gene editing expertise with Tropic's innovative platform.
• British SugarcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 March 2023Strategic collaboration to deploy GEiGS technology in sugar beet to develop varieties resistant to Virus Yellows disease, reducing reliance on environmentally damaging pesticides.
• Genus PlccoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2022Extension and expansion of the GEiGS collaboration to explore additional traits for bovine and porcine species welfare improvements.
• BASFcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 July 2020Research agreement to utilize GEiGS technology within BASF's strategic crop varieties for development of disease and pest control traits.
• Genus PlccoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2020Collaboration to apply GEiGS technology in porcine and bovine genetics for disease resistance. Extended in 2022 to explore additional traits for animal welfare. Genus is a world leader in animal genetic improvement.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pairwise: Pairwise is a US-based agricultural biotechnology company using CRISPR-based gene editing to develop improved varieties of fruits and vegetables (e.g., seedless blackberries, pitless cherries). It is the most direct competitor to Tropic in applying CRISPR to specialty/tropical crops with a non-transgenic approach.
• Inari Agriculture: Inari is an agricultural biotechnology company combining AI-driven predictive design with multiplex gene editing to produce seed traits for major row crops. While focused on corn, soybean, and wheat rather than tropical crops, it shares Tropic's platform-based approach and licensing-oriented business model in seed technology.
• Cibus: Cibus is a US-based agricultural biotechnology company developing gene-edited crop traits using its proprietary Rapid Trait Development System (RTDS), including herbicide tolerance and disease resistance. It competes with Tropic in offering non-transgenic gene-edited crop improvements for commercialization.

Emerging players

• Benson Hill: Benson Hill uses genomics, AI, and proprietary breeding to develop improved soybean and yellow pea varieties with better nutrition and yield. While focused on row crops and not gene editing per se, it competes in the broader crop-improvement-as-a-platform space and has commercial seed operations similar to Tropic's variety business.
• GreenLight Biosciences: GreenLight Biosciences develops RNA-based agricultural products (including RNAi sprays) for crop protection. It is comparable to Tropic through its use of RNA interference for crop improvement, intersecting with the GEiGS platform's RNAi component, though delivered as a spray rather than a seed trait.
• PlantArcBio: PlantArcBio is an Israeli agricultural biotechnology company using gene discovery and RNAi approaches for crop trait development. It is comparable to Tropic through its biotech-based crop improvement focus and use of RNA interference, though smaller in scale and with a narrower trait portfolio.

Broad incumbents

• Corteva Agriscience: Corteva is one of the world's largest seed and crop protection companies and an active partner/licensee of Tropic for GEiGS in corn and soybean. It also develops its own gene-editing traits and is a broad incumbent competitor in agricultural biotechnology with substantially greater resources.
• Syngenta: Syngenta is a global agriscience leader with major seed, crop protection, and vegetable seed businesses. It has an active GEiGS licensing partnership with Tropic for vegetables, while also operating its own gene-editing research programs, making it both a partner and broad incumbent competitor.
• BASF Agricultural Solutions: BASF is one of the world's largest crop protection and seed companies with significant agricultural biotechnology operations. It has a research agreement with Tropic to use GEiGS for disease and pest control traits and represents a broad incumbent that could compete with or complement Tropic's technology.
• Bayer Crop Science: Bayer Crop Science (including legacy Monsanto) is the world's largest seed and crop protection company and operates major gene-editing programs (e.g., Covercress, Pairwise collaboration). It is a broad incumbent competing for the same agricultural biotechnology opportunities as Tropic.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tropic-biosciences

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors27 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tropic Biosciences