A new biomanufacturing platform protects nature

This cell culture platform makes plant-based products without cutting down any plants

Spotted: Plants play a vital role in Earth’s ecosystem – providing oxygen, carbon storage, food, climate management, and ecosystem stabilisation. But all around the world, plant-based ecosystems are under stress from climate change, human-led deforestation, pests, and diseases.

Foray Bioscience is working to stem this loss with technology that can produce plant-based products using cells cultivated outside of the plant, meaning trees and plants wouldn’t need to be cut down. While biomanufacturing is often used in areas such as lab-grown meat, few researchers have translated this to make plant products. One reason for this is that each plant species is so different that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to cultivating plant cells. This makes biomanufacturing with plant cell cultures laborious.

To change this, Foray has developed a predictive database and advanced optimisation strategies. According to Dr. Ashley Beckwith, CEO and founder of Foray Bioscience, “These innovations improve success rates, shorten development timelines, and make plant cell culture accessible to the 99 per cent of species that have remained largely unexplored in biomanufacturing.” Foray’s technology allows them to grow plant-based materials, seeds, and molecules up to 100 times faster without the need for harvesting.

To date, Foray has raised $3.875 million in funding, including $3 million in a seed funding round led by ReGen Ventures, which backs technology to restore the planet’s resources. The startup plans to use the funding to build out its team, expand its predictive plant cell culture platform, and launch product development engagements with select partners.

Written By: Lisa Magloff