Tropic, a UK-based agricultural biotechnology company developing gene-edited tropical crops, has raised $105 million in an oversubscribed Series C funding round to accelerate global commercial expansion and scale production of its breakthrough banana varieties and other climate-resilient crops. The round was co-led by Forbion through its Bioeconomy Fund and by Corteva via its Corteva Catalyst investment platform. Major support came from IQ Capital and Just Climate, while new investors ABN Amro and Invest International also joined the round. Existing investors Temasek, Five Seasons Ventures, Sucden Ventures, Genoa Ventures, Polaris Partners, and Aliment Capital also participated.
The new funding will support large-scale production of Tropic’s gene-edited crops, strengthen global supply chains, and expand commercial partnerships across major export markets. The company will also accelerate development across its banana and rice pipelines while exploring additional climate-resilient crops aimed at addressing global food security challenges.
Founded in Norwich, UK, Tropic focuses on improving tropical crops using gene-editing technologies through its proprietary GEiGS® platform. The company is currently focused on banana and rice varieties designed to deliver higher yields, increased disease resistance, and improved sustainability.
In 2025, Tropic launched the first new banana varieties introduced in more than 75 years. These include a non-browning banana—named one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2025—and an extended shelf-life variety that increases green life by 12 days, enabling longer transport times and reducing waste by up to 50 percent.
Demand for the company’s new banana varieties has already surpassed supply, prompting the need for expanded production capacity.
Tropic has also made progress on developing resistance to Panama Disease (TR4), a rapidly spreading fungal disease that threatens the global banana industry and has already been identified in more than 20 countries. The company shipped plants in 2025 to establish a mother plantation intended to support commercial deployment beginning in 2027.
Alongside scaling its banana program, Tropic plans to expand research across its rice portfolio and pursue additional high-impact crops aimed at improving agricultural resilience and sustainability.
The financing will also bring new strategic representation to Tropic’s leadership structure. Joy Faucher, General Partner at Forbion; Tom Greene, Senior Director at Corteva; and Siddarth Shrikanth, Director at Just Climate, will join the company’s board of directors. Gustavo Bassetti, Rob Scott, Onno van de Stolpe, and Alex Wilson will join as board observers.
KEY QUOTES
“This funding is a powerful endorsement of our team’s ability to bring breakthrough products to the hands of growers, exporters and consumers around the world. We are entering a new era, one where gene-edited crops will significantly enhance food security and sustainability. 2025 proved that our technology delivers – not in the distant future, but right now. With two banana varieties already on the market and demand outstripping supply, this investment enables us to scale global production and expand into new crops faster than ever before. We are excited to be partnering with our new investors as we progress our mission to build a world leading tropical seeds company.”
Gilad Gershon, CEO of Tropic
“Tropic is an exemplary case of how advanced biotechnology can be applied with precision to challenges in planetary health, starting with banana and rice. Escalating disease pressure, limited innovation and a lack of cost-effective solutions are driving a growing environmental and supply chain risk in our food systems. Tropic has proven its leading position in addressing these threats by bringing its innovative technology to market and providing durable, scalable and resilient solutions to growers. We are proud to partner with an exceptional management team and a like-minded syndicate as Tropic scales commercially and builds a globally leading, category-defining seeds platform.”
Joy Faucher, General Partner at Forbion
“Tropic’s non-browning banana varieties are a promising example of how the agriculture industry is leveraging innovation to deliver new and improved choices for farmers and consumers worldwide. We’re thrilled to support Tropic as we continue to advance our global portfolio of next-generation solutions to help farmers produce more food and feed, sustainably.”
Tom Greene, Senior Director at Corteva
“Agriculture drives the majority of nature loss, and waste across food value chains is a meaningful contributor to global carbon dioxide and methane emissions. Based on a decade of breakthrough research, Tropic has developed crop varieties that are disease-resistant, higher-yielding, and hardier in transit to tackle the environmental footprint of our food system at its source. With the technology proven and the first products in market, the company is now at an inflection point. As growth investors supporting the commercial scale-up of transformative nature solutions, we look forward to partnering with the Tropic team and our co-investors to bring their resilient, sustainable tropical crops to growers worldwide.”
Siddarth Shrikanth, Director, Natural Climate Solutions at Just Climate
“Tropic is exactly the kind of company we look to back at IQC – deep technology solving a massive real-world problem. Tropic’s gene-editing platform addresses crops that have been essentially unimprovable through conventional breeding, and the results speak for themselves: two banana varieties launched, with strong demand from growers and exporters fuelling significant revenue growth. With TR4 posing an existential threat to a $25bn industry, the urgency behind Tropic’s pipeline is only growing. We are delighted to be supporting Gilad and the team as they scale globally.”
Alex Wilson, Partner at IQ Capital
