What Rainbow Crops does

Rainbow Crops is a Belgian AgTech company founded in May 2024 as a spin-off of the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology, headquartered at Technologiepark 71 in Ghent. The company develops Trait Foundry™, an integrated platform that combines multiplex genome editing (capable of editing 50-100 genes simultaneously), systems biology, precision breeding, and GM-certified automated phenotyping in a continuous Design-Build-Test learning cycle. The platform is purpose-built to engineer complex agronomic traits — such as yield stability, drought resilience, heat resilience, and input efficiency — that are governed by multiple interacting genes and are difficult or slow to improve through conventional breeding. End-to-end proof-of-concept has been demonstrated in corn, including field validation, and the phenotyping infrastructure can screen up to 16,000 plants per cycle.

The company operates a B2B technology licensing model, partnering with mid-size seed and breeding companies and licensing Trait Foundry™ outputs in exchange for upfront fees, milestone payments, and royalties on commercialised crop varieties. No public pricing is disclosed and commercial terms are bespoke. Rainbow Crops also receives non-dilutive grant funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — a cumulative ~$13 million across a prior €6M tranche and a $7M grant awarded in April 2026 — to develop climate-resilient maize, sorghum, and rice for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. First commercial product is expected within 4-5 years.

Rainbow Crops is venture-backed and privately held. In June 2026 the company closed an oversubscribed €9.7 million (~$11.25 million) seed round led by Italian VC firm LIFTT and LIFTT EuroInvest, with participation from AIF, PINC, VIB, Corteva Catalyst, and Maia Ventures. Leadership comprises CEO and co-founder Giacomo Bastianelli, Scientific Founder Prof. Hilde Nelissen, Head of R&D Veerle De Schepper, and Head of AI Tim Van den Bulcke, anchored in the VIB-UGent research ecosystem.

Name

Rainbow Crops

Legal name

Rainbow Crops

Website

https://rainbowcrops.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Rainbow Crops is a Belgian AgTech spin-off from VIB-UGent that develops Trait Foundry™, an AI-powered platform combining multiplex genome editing, precision breeding, and automated phenotyping to engineer complex agronomic traits for seed and breeding companies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

AgTech Crop Trait Engineering

NAICS

Farm Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing (333111)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700), Farm Machinery & Equipment (3523)

akta.pro primary industry

Trait Stacking & Trait Introgression (Backcrossing, pyramiding) (AFABALAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Trait Discovery & Functional Genomics (Target ID/Validation) (AFABALAC), Biotechnology & Gene-Edited Trait Development (AFAGAIAG)

Keywords

• Crop trait engineering
• Multiplex genome editing
• Agricultural biotechnology
• Precision breeding
• Automated phenotyping

Headquarters

HQ city

Gent

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Technology Licensing & Royalties: Rainbow Crops licenses its Trait Foundry™ platform outputs to seed companies in exchange for upfront fees, milestone payments tied to development achievements, and royalties on commercialised crop varieties. Revenue is generated through collaborative R&D partnerships rather than direct product sales.
2. Grant Funding: Non-dilutive grant funding from the Gates Foundation to support development of climate-resilient crops for sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, focusing on maize, sorghum, and rice.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Rainbow Crops operates Trait Foundry™, an integrated AI-powered platform that combines multiplex genome editing (50–100 genes simultaneously), systems biology, precision breeding, and automated phenotyping in a continuous Design–Build–Test cycle. The company licenses platform outputs to mid-size seed and breeding companies in exchange for upfront fees, milestone payments, and royalties on commercialized crop varieties.

Product overview

Rainbow Crops operates as a next-generation AgTech company offering a single unified platform called Trait Foundry™. This platform integrates five core capabilities—systems biology, artificial intelligence, multiplex genome editing, precision breeding, and automated phenotyping—within a continuous Design → Build → Test development cycle. The company operates a B2B model, licensing its platform outputs to seed and breeding companies in exchange for upfront fees, milestone payments, and royalties on commercialized varieties.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Trait Foundry™: An integrated platform combining AI, systems biology, multiplex genome editing and biological validation to develop resilient, high-performing crops through a Design-Build-Test workflow.

Products and services

• Trait Foundry™ Trait Foundry™ is an integrated AI-powered platform combining multiplex genome editing, precision breeding, and automated phenotyping to discover, engineer, and validate complex agronomic traits such as yield stability, drought resilience, heat resilience, and input efficiency in crops. The platform is licensed to seed and breeding companies through collaborative R&D partnerships, with delivery structured as upfront fees, milestone payments, and royalties on commercialized crop varieties.

Quantifiable outcome

• End-to-end proof-of-concept demonstrated in corn, including field validation
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature5 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Syngenta Group: Syngenta is a global agribusiness with major seed businesses (including corn, soybean, cereals) and active trait-discovery pipelines using both conventional breeding and biotechnology. Comparable broad incumbent competing for the same seed-company partner relationships.
• Corteva Agriscience: Corteva is one of the world's largest seed and crop protection companies with extensive internal trait discovery, germplasm, and breeding operations. Already invested via Corteva Catalyst, it represents both a potential customer and a broad incumbent competing for trait-development partnerships.
• BASF Agricultural Solutions: BASF's agricultural division operates a global seed and trait business (notably in wheat, soybean, cotton, and canola) with active research programmes in plant biotechnology. Comparable broad incumbent in the trait licensing space.
• Bayer Crop Science: Bayer's Crop Science division (including the former Monsanto) is the global market leader in seeds and traits, with deep in-house capabilities in gene editing, AI, and trait development across major row crops. Represents the principal incumbent benchmark for licensing economics and competitive positioning.

Direct peers

• Inari Agriculture: Inari is a US-based agtech company using AI and multiplex gene editing (their SEEDesign™ platform) to develop complex traits in crops. Direct comparable: both companies integrate computational biology with multi-gene editing to engineer yield, resource-use, and resilience traits for seed partners.
• Elo Life Systems: Elo Life Systems (a subsidiary of Precision BioSciences) uses ARCUS® gene editing for crop improvement across multiple food and agriculture applications. Comparable gene editing platform-to-seed-partner B2B model.
• Benson Hill: Benson Hill uses its CropOS® AI platform combined with genomics to develop improved crop varieties (soy, yellow pea, sorghum). Comparable AI + genetics platform approach with seed/trait licensing and ingredient business model.
• Pairwise: Pairwise uses CRISPR-based gene editing and proprietary genomics tools to develop improved crop varieties, with active programmes in corn, soy, wheat, and other row crops. Closely comparable B2B trait-development model and crop focus.
• Tropic Biosciences: Tropic applies gene editing (including CRISPR) to high-value tropical crops like banana, coffee, and rice, combining computational biology with breeding. Comparable platform-based trait engineering approach, though with crop focus on tropical and specialty species.

Emerging players

• PlantArcBio: PlantArcBio is an Israeli agtech startup using computational biology and gene discovery (DIPTM platform) to identify yield- and stress-related genes for crop improvement. Comparable emerging player combining AI-based gene discovery with trait development, but focused on trait genes rather than full editing pipelines.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rainbow-crops

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors9 records

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Rainbow Crops