Wild Bioscience ramps up efforts to futureproof food supply

Wild Bioscience has expanded its operations on Milton Park, Oxfordshire, after securing £45 million in funding.

The University of Oxford spinout focuses on developing climate-resilient crops and will use the funding to scale up its laboratory facilities and advance its commercial plans.

Ross Hendron, CEO and co-founder of Wild Bioscience, said: “Since founding Wild Bio, we’ve been building a powerful design engine to create resilient crops.

“AI is now dramatically accelerating that capability, but to realise its full potential we need to scale pipelines that turn predictions into validated crop products and feed real-world results back to continuously improve our models.

“This expansion in infrastructure, team, and technology is a key step in developing the engineering loop that bridges computational design and plant biology.

“We’re starting with the world’s most widely grown crop: wheat.

“We’re excited to welcome Lisa and Stuart to the team as we deploy our Series A to fundamentally change how crops are designed, enabling agriculture to keep up with our rapidly changing planet.”

The latest funding round was led by the Ellison Institute of Technology, with continued backing from investors including Oxford Science Enterprises, Braavos, and the University of Oxford.

Wild Bioscience has signed a new lease to expand its laboratory and office space by 4,560 sq ft at Milton Park, bringing its total footprint to 16,000 sq ft.

The expansion includes new facilities at 115 Olympic Avenue and a recently equipped gene-editing laboratory at 127 Olympic Avenue.

This additional space has enabled the company to triple its plant output within a matter of months.

The company employs 40 staff and has been growing organically at Milton Park since 2021.

It uses AI-driven modelling and molecular biology to identify and harness traits from wild plant species, with the goal of boosting crop resilience, increasing yields, and reducing carbon intensity.

Recent partnerships include collaborations with The Traits Company, KWS, Dyson Farming, and Pairwise Plants to support the international development and deployment of improved crop varieties.

The company has also strengthened its leadership team.

Lisa Flashner, chief operating officer at the Ellison Institute of Technology, has joined the board as a non-executive director.

Dr Stuart Harrison has been appointed chief business officer.

Tom Booker, asset manager at Milton Park for Federated Hermes Real Estate, said: “Wild Bioscience’s continued growth is a strong example of how companies can start, scale and specialise at Milton Park.

“Their expansion reflects both the strength of their science and the momentum behind the business, supported by significant recent investment, the addition of senior leadership and a clear pathway to commercialisation.

“It’s exactly the kind of journey the park is designed to support.”