Oversubscribed round co-led by the Forbion Bioeconomy Fund and Corteva as demand for Tropic’s breakthrough banana varieties surges worldwide
In 2025, Tropic commercially launched the first new banana varieties introduced in more than 75 years. Capital to fund global production scale-up, accelerate banana and rice pipelines, and expand into additional climate-resilient crops.
The round had major support from IQ Capital and Just Climate, with new investors ABN Amro and Invest International, and continued support from existing investors Temasek, Five Seasons Ventures, Aliment Capital, Sucden Ventures, Genoa Ventures and Polaris Partners.
Demand for Tropic’s non-browning and extended shelf-life bananas already exceeds supply.
Tropic, the global leader in gene‑edited tropical crops, today announces the close of its oversubscribed $105 million Series C financing to accelerate the global commercial scale up of its banana and rice portfolios, and advance its pipeline of climate resilient crops. The round reflects surging global demand for resilient, sustainable food solutions and Tropic’s proven ability to rapidly and efficiently bring high performance gene‑edited crops to market.
The round was co-led by Forbion through its Bioeconomy Fund and Corteva, through its Corteva Catalyst investment platform, with significant participation from Just Climate and IQ Capital. The round was also supported by new investors ABN Amro and Invest International, and existing investors Temasek, Five Seasons Ventures, Sucden Ventures, Genoa Ventures and Polaris Partners who participated in the round. As part of the financing, Joy Faucher, General Partner at Forbion, Tom Greene, Senior Director at Corteva, and Siddarth Shrikanth, Director at Just Climate, will join Tropic’s Board of Directors. Gustavo Bassetti, Rob Scott, Onno van de Stolpe and Alex Wilson will join as Board observers.
The financing follows a milestone year in which Tropic launched the first new commercial banana varieties in more than 75 years. These include a non-browning banana – named one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2025 – and an extended shelf life variety that lengthens green life by an additional 12 days, increasing field yields, enabling new export routes and reducing transportation waste by up to 50 percent.
Furthermore, Tropic greatly advanced its Panama Disease (TR4) resistant programme in 2025, with the shipment of plants to establish a mother plantation – supporting commercial deployment from 2027. Panama Disease (TR4) is fast-spreading, found in more than 20 countries globally, and represents an existential threat for the $25 billion dollar banana industry – threatening food security and farmers livelihoods.
Expanding global production to meet rising demand
With demand for its initial commercial products rapidly outpacing supply, Tropic will use the Series C capital to expand large‑scale plant production capabilities, strengthen global supply chains, and support commercial partnerships across major export markets.
The funding will also accelerate Tropic’s pipeline of banana varieties, developed for natural resistance to devastating diseases such as TR4 and Black Sigatoka, and expand development across its rice portfolio, and support entry into additional high-impact crops to conquer global food supply challenges.
Executive commentary
Gilad Gershon, CEO of Tropic, said: “This funding is a powerful endorsement of our team’s ability to bring breakthrough products to the hands of growers, exporters and consumers around the world. We are entering a new era, one where gene‑edited crops will significantly enhance food security and sustainability.
2025 proved that our technology delivers – not in the distant future, but right now. With two banana varieties already on the market and demand outstripping supply, this investment enables us to scale global production and expand into new crops faster than ever before. We are excited to be partnering with our new investors as we progress our mission to build a world leading tropical seeds company.”
Joy Faucher, General Partner at Forbion, said: “Tropic is an exemplary case of how advanced biotechnology can be applied with precision to challenges in planetary health, starting with banana and rice. Escalating disease pressure, limited innovation and a lack of cost-effective solutions are driving a growing environmental and supply chain risk in our food systems. Tropic has proven its leading position in addressing these threats by bringing its innovative technology to market and providing durable, scalable and resilient solutions to growers. We are proud to partner with an exceptional management team and a like-minded syndicate as Tropic scales commercially and builds a globally leading, category-defining seeds platform.”
Tom Greene, Senior Director at Corteva, said: “Tropic’s non-browning banana varieties are a promising example of how the agriculture industry is leveraging innovation to deliver new and improved choices for farmers and consumers worldwide. We’re thrilled to support Tropic as we continue to advance our global portfolio of next-generation solutions to help farmers produce more food and feed, sustainably.”
Siddarth Shrikanth, Director, Natural Climate Solutions at Just Climate, said: “Agriculture drives the majority of nature loss, and waste across food value chains is a meaningful contributor to global carbon dioxide and methane emissions. Based on a decade of breakthrough research, Tropic has developed crop varieties that are disease-resistant, higher-yielding, and hardier in transit to tackle the environmental footprint of our food system at its source. With the technology proven and the first products in market, the company is now at an inflection point. As growth investors supporting the commercial scale-up of transformative nature solutions, we look forward to partnering with the Tropic team and our co-investors to bring their resilient, sustainable tropical crops to growers worldwide.”
Alex Wilson, Partner at IQ Capital, said: “Tropic is exactly the kind of company we look to back at IQC – deep technology solving a massive real-world problem. Tropic’s gene-editing platform addresses crops that have been essentially unimprovable through conventional breeding, and the results speak for themselves: two banana varieties launched, with strong demand from growers and exporters fuelling significant revenue growth. With TR4 posing an existential threat to a $25bn industry, the urgency behind Tropic’s pipeline is only growing. We are delighted to be supporting Gilad and the team as they scale globally.”
About Tropic
Tropic is a pioneering tropical seeds company dedicated to the development of healthier, more robust, high-performing varieties of tropical crops. The company’s current core crop portfolio focusses on banana and rice, which together provide a source of livelihood to billions of people worldwide. Tropic utilises its proprietary GEiGS® platform and other cutting-edge gene editing technologies to develop improved crops with increased disease resistance, higher yields, and environmentally sustainable traits. By harnessing the power of advanced genetic engineering, Tropic is committed to addressing global agricultural challenges and providing innovative solutions that benefit farmers, consumers, and the environment.
The Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) has announced the launch of the Catalyst Scholars Fund, which marks the first phase of a broader Advanced Chemistry strategy for Indiana. The strategy involves a coordinated effort to position Indiana as the national leader in the development and deployment of technologies needed to reshore and secure critical supply chains for medicines, animal health products, and agricultural inputs, which is a national security priority.
The Catalyst Scholars Fund is a five-year initiative to enable Indiana’s leading STEM higher education institutions, including its four R1 research institutions (Indiana University, Purdue University and the University of Notre Dame) along with Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology to attract world-class research teams in Advanced Chemistry through strategic cluster and eminent scholar recruitment. The Fund will provide matching support for major equipment, laboratory infrastructure, and startup packages, strengthening the State’s ability to attract and retain top research talent with the expertise and capabilities to develop new technologies with translational potential that can be deployed to strengthen domestic supply chains.
Supported by a $69.4 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to the CICP Foundation Inc. and matching commitments from participating universities, the Catalyst Scholars Fund, spearheaded by CICP and powered by its branded initiatives, BioCrossroads and AgriNovus Indiana, will enable these Indiana higher education institutions to recruit 25 to 45 world class faculty and their teams over five years to tackle industry informed grand challenges in analytical chemistry, novel macromolecular chemistries, automation, and artificial intelligence applications in bioscience manufacturing.
Leveraging Indiana’s unique strengths, including global life sciences leaders Eli Lilly and Company, Elanco Animal Health, and Corteva and these world-class research and teaching institutions and the State’s position as the nation’s leading exporter of life science products, the initiative will accelerate new research and translation of platform technologies. Together, these tools and capabilities are relevant across human health, animal health, and plant science, serving as a compelling example of the power of Indiana’s One Health ecosystem.
“The Catalyst Scholars Fund begins to position Indiana as the go-to location for innovation and technology implementation in Advanced Chemistry manufacturing,” said Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) CEO Melina Kennedy. “CICP and its initiatives, BioCrossroads and AgriNovus, are pleased to help align these CEOs, university presidents, and ecosystem partners around a single vision: making Indiana the national hub where world-class academic researchers and industry partners come together to strengthen our nation’s most critical supply chains.”
“The Catalyst Scholars Fund builds on IU’s longstanding strengths in the life sciences and accelerates the momentum of IU LAB to rapidly translate research into innovation that fuels Indiana’s competitiveness,” said Indiana University President Pam Whitten. “As Indiana’s largest research institution with a statewide footprint, IU brings unmatched scale, depth, and capability to this effort. By joining forces with the other initiative partners and industry leaders, we are creating research clusters and recruiting talent that will help secure the nation’s medicine and food supply while opening new opportunities for Hoosiers in every corner of the state.”
“From its two Nobel Prizes in Chemistry to the recently launched One Health strategic priority, Purdue is ready to work with industry partners to develop breakthrough research and excellence at unparalleled scale in talent pipeline through four chemistry-related departments, thus securing critical supply chains onshore and positioning our state as the default destination for advanced chemistry innovation,” said Purdue University President Mung Chiang. “The Catalyst Scholars Fund and the visionary support from Lilly Endowment accelerate our efforts to build the infrastructure and recruit and retain the best faculty in advanced chemistry.”
“Throughout our history, the University of Notre Dame has been guided by its Catholic mission and our founder’s vision to be a ‘powerful means for doing good in this country,’” said Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., University of Notre Dame president. “By supporting advanced chemistry efforts that help to develop our nation’s early career workforce and to reshore manufacturing in critical areas, the Catalyst Scholars Fund reflects our ongoing commitment to harnessing discovery and collaboration, particularly in service of the most vulnerable and underserved in society. These efforts build upon our existing leadership of major initiatives in this space, including the NSF-funded Center for Bioanalytic Metrology and the Center for Computer Aided Synthesis. We look forward to working alongside our industrial and academic partners to realize the vision of Catalyze Indiana and strengthen the health and capacity of our state.”
Robert A. Coons, President, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology shared, “I hope every Rose-Hulman graduate leaves with not only knowledge, but a passion for innovation and a drive to keep discovering new ways to solve hard problems. The Catalyst Scholars Fund amplifies those instincts across Indiana’s higher education institutions, empowering faculty and students to take smart risks, push the boundaries of what’s possible in advanced chemistry, and create technologies that will secure critical supply chains and improve lives for years to come.”
Indiana is uniquely positioned to become the nation’s epicenter for advanced chemistry manufacturing, with global life sciences leaders, top-tier research universities, and a deep manufacturing base that already generates more than $43 billion annually and employs nearly 40,000 Hoosiers in advanced chemistry-related sectors. By prioritizing talent through the Catalyst Scholars Fund, Indiana is building the research depth and technical capacity required to support workforce training and supply chain infrastructure.
The program also promotes statewide collaboration through coordinated equipment sharing agreements among universities, maximizing the impact of infrastructure investments. Major analytical instruments and specialized facilities enabled through the fund will be available to researchers across institutions.
Industry partners including Eli Lilly and Company, Elanco Animal Health, and Corteva will help inform annual technology priorities and engage directly with recruited scholars through sponsored research, advisory input, and collaborative programs. This structure ensures that academic research remains aligned with the real manufacturing challenges facing companies operating in food, medicine, and advanced materials.
“Modern medicines are increasingly complex to manufacture,” said David A. Ricks, Chair and CEO of Eli Lilly and Company. “Advancing the technologies that make production more efficient and reliable is essential to keeping supply secure and ensuring access for patients. This investment deepens Lilly’s collaboration with Indiana’s leading research universities and advanced chemistry experts, and Lilly is excited to work with the researchers recruited through the Catalyst Scholars Fund to help translate innovation into impact.”
Additional Perspectives from Initiative Partners
Chuck Magro, CEO, Corteva
“Innovation in advanced chemistry and manufacturing processes is essential because as the world grows, we will need to grow more food on the same amount of land, manage our environmental footprint, and strengthen the food supply chain farmers and Hoosiers depend upon. The Catalyst Scholars Fund creates exactly the kind of industry-university partnerships we need, bringing world-class scientists together with global agriculture leaders to turn new ideas into practical tools that help farmers do what they do best – feed the world.”
Jeff Simmons, President and CEO, Elanco Animal Health
“When people find their ‘why,’ they go further than they ever imagined, and the same is true for regions and ecosystems. The Catalyst Scholars Fund gives Indiana researchers and innovators a compelling purpose: supporting the health and wellbeing of pets and increasing the availability and affordability of protein that the world is counting on. Further, we’re creating a destination for global talent that wants to make a real difference in animal health and the future of food.”
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: CALM), the largest egg company in the United States and a leading player in the egg-based food industry, today announced the acquisition of the shell egg, egg products, and prepared foods assets of Creighton Brothers LLC, including Crystal Lake LLC, for a total purchase price of approximately $128.5 million, subject to customary post-closing adjustments. Cal-Maine Foods is funding the acquisition with available cash on hand.
Established in 1925, Creighton Brothers produces, grades, and packages high-quality conventional and specialty shell eggs for retail and foodservice markets. Crystal Lake produces ready-to-use egg products for the foodservice and food manufacturing industries, including liquid, frozen, and hard-cooked eggs, and distributes pre-cooked egg patties, omelets, and scrambled eggs. Both companies are headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, where Cal-Maine Foods previously had no shell egg operations.
“The acquisition of Creighton Brothers and Crystal Lake advances our strategy by expanding the scale and geographic reach of our shell egg platform, across both specialty eggs and conventional eggs, adding meaningful growth to our portfolio. This incremental capacity strengthens our ability to align production with demand, better positioning us to consistently meet consumer expectations for choice, reliability, and affordability. Together with the Creighton Brothers and Crystal Lake team, we will build on the strong foundation already in place—combining our operational excellence, deep customer relationships, supply chain expertise, rigorous capital deployment, and robust systems to accelerate growth and unlock new opportunities,” said Sherman Miller, president and chief executive officer of Cal-Maine Foods.
“Importantly, with nearby liquid egg capacity, we further our internal sourcing strategy for key egg-based ingredients for our prepared foods business—strengthening supply security, improving margins, and driving greater operational efficiency. Together, these advantages compound over time and, guided by our disciplined, returns-focused approach, drive performance and create sustainable per-share value,” he continued.
The acquired assets include commercial shell egg production and grading with capacity of approximately 3.2 million laying hens, including 500,000 cage-free, and 865,000 pullets, a feed mill, 1,007 acres of land, as well as an egg products and hard-cooked egg processing facility.
Creighton Brothers and Crystal Lake will be fully integrated into Cal-Maine Foods’ existing operations, including its 177 employees. Mr. Miller commented, “We are proud to welcome this exceptional team to the Cal-Maine Foods family. Their high-quality operations reflect remarkable dedication and capability, and we look forward to achieving even greater success together.”
Mindy Truex, President of Creighton Brothers and Crystal Lake, stated, “With mixed personal emotions and great pride, I’m excited to see the legacy of Hobart and Russell Creighton and their families continue and grow with a new family at Cal-Maine. I believe our dedication to excellence and doing things right will mesh well and provide an example to follow for another 100 years.”
AgriNovus Indiana, a nonprofit coalition focused on growing Indiana’s agbioscience economy, announced today that Trent Torrance, chief operating officer of United Animal Health, will serve as chair of the organization’s board of directors.
The board unanimously approved Tim Bettington, executive vice president for Center of Strategic Growth at Elanco, as its vice chair. Phil Brewer, vice president of strategy at Keystone Cooperative, and Bernie Engel, Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture at Purdue University, were also approved to the AgriNovus Executive Committee.
Stéphane Frijia, president and CEO of Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, and Drew Garretson, vice president of Innovation and Sustainability at Keystone Cooperative, were unanimously approved as additions to the organization’s Board of Directors. The board also approved the addition of Darren Dillenbeck, CEO of BW Fusion, Mike Jacob, board representative at The Pantheon, and Sarah Oznick, general counsel at GDM North America, to replace outgoing directors.
“AgriNovus is on a mission to accelerate growth in Indiana’s agbioscience economy and that requires a coalition of strong leaders,” said Christy Wright, president and CEO of AgriNovus. “These additions to our board and its leadership create opportunities for new experience, insights and collaboration across the value chain that will continue to define and differentiate Indiana as a global leader in agbioscience innovation.”
Torrance is the chief operating officer and is a member of the board of directors for United Animal Health, a Sheridan, Ind. based company focused on providing solutions for animal nutrition and health. He has served in various roles for the company since 2001 including research and development, project management and corporate leadership. Torrance holds a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Western Illinois University and a master’s degree in animal science from the University of Missouri. He also serves on the board of directors for United Animal Health’s Joint Venture in China, Shandong United Nutrition.
Bettington serves as Elanco’s executive vice president for Center of Strategic Growth, responsible for corporate strategy and market development, focusing on launch readiness and driving growth initiatives. He also oversees business development, government affairs, strategy, global farm animal sustainability and global innovation. Bettington is a recognized animal health leader with more than 25 years of experience across both livestock and pet health, beginning in his native country Australia, the United States and across Europe. He has built some of the industry’s most successful portfolios and overseen some of the most significant commercial businesses in animal health. Bettington was formerly executive vice president and president of U.S. Operations and Global Customer Experience at Zoetis. He joined Zoetis from Boehringer Ingelheim where he served as North American Region Head of Commercial Operations for its animal health business. Bettington holds a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Western Sydney University and a master’s degree in marketing management from the Macquarie Graduate School of Management in Sydney, Australia.
Brewer serves as vice president of Strategy for Keystone Cooperative, an Indianapolis, Ind.-based farmer-owned agricultural cooperative formed in March 2024 through the merger of Co-Alliance and Ceres Solutions. In his nearly 29 years serving the cooperative, he has held roles of increasing responsibility including location manager and vice president of Agronomy. Brewer holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Taylor University.
Engel is the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture at Purdue University, where he previously served as senior associate dean and as head of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Over the course of his career, Engel has received numerous honors from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), including the Outstanding Young Researcher Award (1999), ASABE Fellow (2014), the Gilley Academic Leadership Award (2016), and the Hancor Soil and Water Conservation Engineering Award (2019). At Purdue, he has been recognized as the College of Agriculture’s Outstanding Researcher and Outstanding Graduate Educator, named a University Scholar, and received the College of Engineering’s Best Teacher Award.
Frijia is president and CEO of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership (NEI), leading economic development for the region’s 11 counties since 2021. Before joining NEI, he spent a decade at the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, where he advanced cluster-based attraction strategies, led international business development, and supported the relocation and expansion of more than 35 international companies, helping generate billions in new investment and thousands of new jobs. At NEI, he has driven organizational revitalization by accelerating lead generation and project activity, strengthening the brand, and launching initiatives that enhance regional competitiveness, including Plug and Play partnerships, automation efforts, and inclusive growth programs. He is a three-time Indiana Top 250 Honoree and was named a DCI “40 Under 40” in economic development (2019). Frijia holds a master’s degree in urban and environmental planning and a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical management technology from Arizona State University and is fluent in English, French and Italian.
Garretson serves as the vice president of Member Engagement and Public Affairs at Keystone Cooperative, spending nearly 20 years in the cooperative system. He has previously held roles for Keystone Cooperative and Land O’Lakes Inc. in both agricultural technology development and digital strategy, leading teams across the United States. Garretson serves on The Pantheon board of directors, the Purdue College of Ag Alumni board of directors, Purdue Alumni Association Executive Council and is a graduate of the Indiana AgrIInstitute Leadership Program. He also serves as co-chair of the Rural Broadband Taskforce in Knox County. Garretson holds a bachelor’s degree in agriculture education from Purdue University.
Dillenbeck is the CEO of BW Fusion, a Fort Wayne, Ind.-based agricultural company that specializes in agronomy, digital scripting and bio-nutritional products. With more than 30 years in the industry, he held roles of increasing responsibility starting at Dow AgroSciences to his most recent role as president of FMC North America where he led commercial, development and regulatory teams while developing growth strategies for the business. Dillenbeck holds a bachelor’s degree in forestry from the University of New Brunswick.
Jacob is a board representative of The Pantheon and founder of TerraForce, an automated harvesting solution for fruit farmers. A farmer turned engineer and entrepreneur, Jacob founded Veritas Engineering Group in 2015 and led the company through several consecutive years of rapid growth before exiting in 2023. He serves as a board member of The Pantheon, chairman of Jacob Farms, and is an active member of The Pantheon’s Ag Tech Committee. Mike received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and resides with his wife and four children in Knox County.
Oznick is general counsel for GDM North America, entering the industry via Westfield, Ind.-based AgReliant Genetics in 2016. Her role was instrumental in GDM’s acquisition and integration of AgReliant into its global company. Oznick is a member of the GDM North American operating committee and oversees legal operations, risk management, regulatory and compliance, and safety. In addition, she plays a key role in the company’s approach to industry affairs and biotech strategy. Oznick has nearly two decades of broad in-house experience across legal subject matters in diverse industries, including private, nonprofit and government. Oznick serves on the Indy Chamber board of directors as well as committees of various industry and community organizations. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Indiana University, a juris doctor from New England School of Law and is admitted to the bar in Indiana and Illinois.
The AgriNovus Indiana Board of Directors is comprised of leaders from industry, academia and government. Learn more about our members here.
