US: Benson Hill, J.R. Simplot launch pilot for potato crops

Local ag startup Benson Hill Biosystems is partnering with the $6 billion J.R. Simplot to improve potato crops, the companies said. Benson Hill, co-founded by Matt Crisp, Tom Brutnell and Todd Mockler, researchers at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Centre, is focused on photosynthesis as a pathway to improving crop production.

With Boise, Idaho-based J.R. Simplot, Benson Hill will participate in a pilot program that utilizes both companies’ technology to increase potato crop yields.

“We initiated this discussion a few months ago and became aware of each other’s technology platforms in more depth,” Crisp said. The pilot is set to launch in the next 60 days, he said. “It will involve multiple years of testing, and we will be doing field evaluations,” he said.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The companies will use Benson Hill’s technology with J.R. Simplot’s Innate potato biotechnology, which reduces bruises on the spuds, leading to greater utilization and less waste.

Launched in 2012, Benson Hill raised $1 million in seed funding, including a $175,000 investment from the Missouri Technology Corp.’s Innovation, Development, and Entrepreneurship Advancement Fund. The company is looking to raise another $7 million in a Series A funding round. That round is expected to close in the second quarter, Crisp said.

Source: bizjournals.com