The company has raised $6 million so far and plans to raise a $10 million Series A this fall. Avalo recently created a fast-maturing broccoli variety for a vertical-farming startup, Iron Ox, and is working on other projects including a latex-producing dandelion, pest-resistant soy and corn, and drought-tolerant cotton. CEO Brendan Collins envisions Avalo as a company that will democratize access to world-class genomics, providing resources to all crops at a fraction of the cost.
Key takeaways:
- Avalo, a North Carolina-based startup, is using machine learning models to speed up the process of creating crops that can endure climate change, making it cheaper and more efficient.
- The company uses AI to identify the genetic basis of complex traits in crops, such as heat tolerance, and can breed them under accelerated conditions, resulting in four development cycles in a year instead of one.
- Avalo has raised $6 million in funding so far and plans to raise a $10 million Series A this fall. The company has already proven its process by creating a fast-maturing broccoli variety for a vertical-farming startup.
- CEO Brendan Collins envisions Avalo as a company that will democratize access to world-class genomics, potentially increasing yield and resilience in a wide variety of crops, not just corn.