Benson Hill raises $25m to advance ‘CropOS’

Agtech firm Benson Hill Biosystems has closed a $25 million Series B funding round co-led by Lewis & Clark Ventures and Prelude Ventures. 

The funds will be used to further develop CropOS, a data and analytics system which, according to a statement from Benson Hill, uses machine learning to help predict which seeds will produce a desired genetic trait.

“In corn hybrids, trait product candidates identified by CropOS have demonstrated significant crop yield increases in diverse environmental conditions,” the firm stated.

Larry Page, a senior associate with Lewis & Clark, told Agri Investor that his firm’s investment was made through the $25 million Lewis & Clark Plant Sciences Fund I, which he heads, in combination with the firm’s main investment vehicle, Lewis & Clark Ventures I.

“We look at technologies spanning all aspects of farming, from the input side to supply chain, and in both plant and animal agriculture [and] we believe there is significant opportunity to invest in innovation in the agriculture space,” Page wrote in an email.

As part of the agreement, David Russell of Lewis & Clark Ventures and Mark Cupta of Prelude Ventures will join the Benson Hill board of directors.

The Series B included new investors Fall Line Capital and S2G Ventures. Existing participating investors included Alexandria Venture Investments, Cultivation Capital, iSelect Fund, Mercury Fund, Middleland Capital, Missouri Technology Corporation, Prolog Ventures and TechAccel.