Ohalo Genetics

 Macro-Micro 

The Big Picture Driving Ag Biotechnology

• Market momentum:

  AgBio is on fire, projected to hit $242 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 8.6%. The drivers? Global food demand, climate variability, and the need for higher yields on shrinking arable land.

• Policy tailwinds:

  Regulatory frameworks are shifting. In the EU, policymakers are reconsidering their GMO stance, opening doors for gene-edited crops like CRISPR. This could redefine market access for AgBio players.

• Global hunger meets innovation:

  By 2050, we’ll need to feed 10 billion people. AgBio technologies like synthetic biology and microbial solutions are critical to closing the yield gap while reducing chemical inputs.

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

• R&D costs are skyrocketing:

  Developing a new biotech crop can cost $100M+ and take a decade. Startups often face a chicken-and-egg problem: needing data to raise capital but needing capital to generate data.

• Regulatory gridlock:

  While markets like the U.S. are open to innovation, others (looking at you, EU) remain cautious. The result? Uneven adoption rates and slower global scaling.

• Public perception remains a hurdle:

  Despite decades of safe GMO use, consumer skepticism persists. Companies must invest in transparency and storytelling to bridge the trust gap.

• IP battles are heating up:

  As more companies enter the space, protecting intellectual property becomes harder. Patent disputes over gene-editing technologies like CRISPR are already making headlines.

Trends Defining AgBio Right Now

1. CRISPR 2.0 is here:

   Forget just pest resistance, CRISPR is enabling nitrogen-efficient crops, drought tolerance, and even plants that sequester more carbon. Companies like Corteva and Bayer are leading the charge, but smaller players like Pairwise are pushing boundaries in specialty crops.

2. Microbial solutions are scaling:

   Biologicals, think probiotics for plants, are seeing explosive growth. Pivot Bio and Indigo Ag are turning microbes into nitrogen-fixing and yield-boosting powerhouses, reducing reliance on synthetic fertilizers.

3. Carbon farming meets AgBio:

   With carbon markets gaining traction, AgBio companies are aligning their innovations with regenerative practices. Seed coatings and biochar are emerging as tools to monetize sustainability.

4. Vertical integration in biotech:

   Companies like Ginkgo Bioworks are offering “biotech as a service,” helping AgBio startups accelerate R&D without building labs from scratch. This lowers the barrier to entry and shortens time-to-market.

5. Consumer-first biotech:

   Products like non-browning apples (Arctic Apples) and high-protein soybeans are proof that biotech is moving downstream, creating value for consumers, not just farmers. Expect more in this space.

Opportunities

1. For investments:

   • Opportunities: Startups tackling nitrogen efficiency and drought resistance. These are immediate pain points with massive upside.

   • Risks: Be wary of companies overly dependent on the EU or a specific market; regulatory delays can cripple timelines.

2. For adoption :

   • Adopt early: Biologicals and CRISPR crops are gaining traction. Getting ahead of these technologies could give you a competitive edge in operational efficiency.

   • Leverage carbon markets: Partner with AgBio companies to align with regenerative ag trends and monetize carbon credits.

 Industry impact 

Understanding Normal Plant Reproduction

To understand why Ohalo's technology is revolutionary, we first need to understand how plants normally reproduce.

Plants, like humans, typically have two sets of chromosomes (called diploid). When they create seeds, each parent splits its chromosomes in half, and the offspring gets half from each parent, maintaining two sets total. This is why children are a mix of their parents, not exact copies.

This creates a significant challenge for traditional breeding. When breeders want to combine good traits from different plants, they face a fundamental problem: because each parent only passes on half its genes, it's random which good traits get inherited.

This randomness means it can take many generations of careful breeding to get all the desired traits in one plant. That's why traditional breeding often takes 10-20 years to develop new crop varieties.

How Boosted Breeding™ Changes the Game

Ohalo created something remarkable: special proteins that fundamentally change how plant reproduction works. These proteins tell the plant cells not to split their chromosomes during reproduction. This might sound simple, but it's revolutionary.

Instead of each parent passing on half their chromosomes, they pass on all of them. The offspring gets complete copies of genes from both parents, a condition called polyploidy - having multiple complete sets of chromosomes.

Think about what this means: instead of getting half from each parent, the offspring gets everything from both. All the good traits from both parents can be combined at once. This often results in plants with more genetic material, which typically leads to larger, more vigorous plants.

Real Example: How It Works in Practice

Let's look at an actual trial with potato plants that shows the power of this approach. They started with two parent plants - one producing 9 grams of potatoes and another producing 33 grams. Both parents had valuable traits like disease resistance and drought tolerance. Scientists applied Ohalo's special proteins to both parents, preventing the normal chromosome splitting. When these plants reproduced, something remarkable happened: the offspring plant produced 680 grams of potatoes and inherited all the good traits from both parents. Most importantly, this happened in just one generation, not decades.

Current Applications and Results

The technology has already produced several breakthrough products. Their work with potatoes shows how transformative this approach can be.

Traditional potatoes are grown from other potatoes (tubers), which can carry diseases and lead to inconsistent crops. Using Boosted Breeding™, they've created true potato seeds that produce more uniform, disease-free crops.

In almonds, they've developed the first self-fertile Nonpareil variety. Traditional almonds need two different trees for pollination, which reduces orchard efficiency. The new varieties can pollinate themselves, allowing for more productive orchards.(More)

Their work with strawberries demonstrates how this technology can address real farming challenges. By combining multiple disease resistance traits in a single generation, they've created stronger plants that need fewer pesticides while maintaining excellent fruit quality and yield.(More)

Looking Forward

This technology represents a fundamental change in how we breed plants. Instead of the slow, somewhat random process of traditional breeding, it allows for rapid, precise combination of desired traits. This speed and precision are crucial as we face challenges like climate change, evolving diseases, and growing food demand. The ability to quickly develop improved crops that are naturally resistant to diseases, tolerant to environmental stress, and more productive could transform how we grow food.

What's particularly exciting is that this is just the beginning. The technology has proven successful in several crops, but its potential applications are much broader. As our understanding grows and the technology is refined, it could help develop better varieties of many more crops, contributing to a more sustainable and productive agricultural system.

Industry Impact: Transforming Agriculture

Accelerating crop development

1. Speed to market

   • Traditional breeding can take decades to achieve desired traits

   • Boosted Breeding™ achieves significant improvements in just a few generations

   • This acceleration is crucial for responding to climate change and evolving agricultural challenges

2. Economic transformation

   • Over $100 million invested in developing this technology

   • Potential to significantly reduce farming input costs

   • Creates new opportunities for crop improvement in previously challenging species

Market disruption

1. Seed industry revolution

   • Challenges traditional breeding companies' long development cycles

   • Offers faster, more precise alternatives to conventional methods

   • Opens opportunities for smaller companies to enter the market

2. Agricultural practice evolution

   • Reduces dependency on chemical inputs through enhanced natural resistance

   • Improves farm profitability through higher yields and lower input costs

   • Enables faster adaptation to changing climate conditions

Sustainability impact

1. Resource efficiency

   • Naturally resistant crops reduce pesticide requirements

   • Improved traits can enhance water use efficiency

   • Better yields from existing farmland reduce expansion pressure

2. Climate resilience

   • Faster development of climate-adapted varieties

   • Enhanced stress tolerance through improved genetics

   • Better food security through more resilient crops

Challenges and future outlook

1. Regulatory navigation

   • Need for approval in different regions

   • Varying regulatory requirements across markets

   • Public acceptance of biotechnology innovations

2. Market adoption

   • Farmer education about new varieties

   • Building trust in new technology

   • Scaling production to meet potential demand

Future potential

• Enabling rapid development of climate-resilient crops

• Reducing chemical inputs in farming

• Improving global food security through better yields

• Creating more sustainable farming systems

 Behind the Business 

Business Model

Ohalo's business model centers on developing and commercializing enhanced crop varieties through its Boosted Breeding™ technology.

The company generates revenue by:

• Seed production and sales: Breeding and selling genetically uniform seeds of improved crop varieties directly to farmers.

• Partnerships and collaborations: Collaborating with agricultural companies and research institutions to co-develop new crop varieties, expanding market reach.

• Licensing technology: Licensing its proprietary breeding technology to other agricultural firms, facilitating broader industry adoption.

Traction and Fundraising

Key milestones:

• Summer 2019: Company founded by David Friedberg and Jud Ward

• Sep 2023: Friedberg becomes full-time CEO

• Sep 2023: First USDA approval for modified potato

• May 2024: Emerges from stealth mode

Fundraising

• Dec 2019: Seed round (undisclosed amount)

• Sep 2021: $3.7M early-stage VC round, led by Anthemis

• May 2022: $8.5M Series A round

• May 2024: $100M+ funding round

Total funding to date: $112M+

Founder Story

David Friedberg A prominent agtech entrepreneur who founded The Climate Corporation (acquired by Monsanto for $1.1B) and The Production Board. Now serves as CEO and Chairman of Ohalo Genetics, where he focuses on using gene editing technology to transform agriculture and improve crop breeding efficiency.

Jud Ward A molecular biologist and former Driscoll's strawberry breeding expert who co-founded Ohalo Genetics. As CTO, he leads the company's technical development, applying his expertise in plant breeding and molecular genetics to build next-generation breeding platforms that address food security challenges.

Opportunities

• Business Development Director

• Technical Program Manager

• Laboratory Technician

• Genotyping Research Associate I

• Genotyping Research Associate II

• Managing Counsel, Commercial and IP Transactions

• Greenhouse Technician

Our Analysis

At its core, Ohalo's breakthrough is elegantly simple yet revolutionary: they've developed a way to create polyploid plants with complete genome inheritance from both parents. This is a fundamental reimagining of what's possible in plant breeding. Their initial trials showcase dramatic results, with yield increases of 60-100%, numbers that would be headline-worthy even at half their magnitude.

What makes Ohalo particularly fascinating is their strategic positioning. Rather than competing with existing seed companies, they're building a platform technology that could transform the entire $70 billion seed industry.

The initial skepticism from the breeding community actually validates their potential, true breakthroughs often face initial disbelief. With $112M+ in funding and their first USDA approval secured for a modified potato, they're quickly moving from theory to practice.

However, challenges remain. While their non-transgenic approach gives them a regulatory advantage, they'll still need to navigate complex international frameworks. The bigger hurdle might be cultural, convincing traditional breeders and farmers to adopt new methods requires both patience and compelling evidence.

The leadership duo of David Friedberg and Jud Ward brings a powerful combination of scaling experience (Friedberg's Climate Corporation success) and deep technical expertise (Ward's background in plant breeding at Driscoll's). This blend of vision and technical capability positions them well for the challenges ahead.

Ohalo's technology could represent the most significant advancement in plant breeding since the Green Revolution.

More Resources

• Dave Friedberg unveils ‘boosted breeding’ tech at Ohalo in ‘holy shit’ moment for crop breeders (Ag Funder News)

• Ohalo introduces Boosted Breeding™ - the next revolution in agriculture.(YouTube)

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