Resurrect Bio Raises €8.8M for AI Crop Disease Resistance

London-based agricultural biotechnology firm Resurrect Bio has successfully concluded an oversubscribed Series A funding round, securing €8.8 million (approximately $10.3 million). This significant capital injection, which saw an initial close of over €6.8 million in February 2026, propels the company's mission to develop advanced, disease-resistant crops using cutting-edge AI and biological insights.

The funding round was spearheaded by Corteva, through its dedicated innovation arm, the Corteva Catalyst platform. Prominent participation also came from Calculus Capital, Pymwymic, UKI2S (managed by Future Planet Capital), SynBioVen, and AgFunder. With this latest infusion, Resurrect Bio has amassed a total of roughly $12.4 million since its inception in 2022, following its initial seed funding.

Dr. Cian Duggan, CEO of Resurrect Bio, highlighted the raise as a testament to the company's innovative approach. "This substantial funding reflects a growing confidence in our scalable, AI-driven platform designed to reawaken disease resistance in vital global crops," he stated. "It validates the potent combination of the UK's leading plant science expertise and commercial drive to achieve tangible real-world impact." The company plans to expand its team, enhance its technological platforms, and actively pursue joint development agreements with seed companies and breeders.

Emerging from the esteemed Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, Resurrect Bio was founded by Professors Sophien Kamoun and Tolga Bozkurt, alongside Dr. Duggan. Their core objective is to establish themselves as the premier global entity in plant disease resistance, developing proprietary traits and collaborating with industry leaders. The company offers the agricultural sector a sustainable alternative to chemical crop protection by reviving complex, inherent resistance mechanisms within plants, addressing the escalating challenge of crop diseases which remain a significant hurdle in global food security. The global crop protection market is projected to reach over $100 billion by 2030, underscoring the critical need for innovative solutions.

At the heart of Resurrect Bio's innovation lies a sophisticated technological suite. This includes the FloraFold® AI platform, which computationally predicts plant-pathogen protein interactions; a high-throughput functional biology system for experimental validation; and the Resurrection platform, engineered to reactivate dormant resistance genes within elite crop germplasm. This integrated approach significantly accelerates the journey from scientific discovery to commercial deployment, a critical factor in the fast-evolving agricultural landscape. This technology is particularly relevant as climate change intensifies disease pressures on crops worldwide.

Elizabeth Klein-Edmonds, Investment Director at Calculus Capital, commented on the strategic importance of the investment. "Crop disease presents a persistent and often underestimated challenge in agriculture. Resurrect Bio's novel gene-editing technology, which restores native resistance, offers a compelling solution to reduce chemical reliance and improve crop yields," she noted. The company is actively seeking partnerships to integrate its durable resistance traits into commercial seed pipelines, aiming to deliver solutions faster than traditional breeding methods. This follows their recent collaboration announcement with Corteva Agriscience in March 2026 to enhance disease resistance in corn.