GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN — OlsAro, a Swedish ag tech company developing climate-resilient cereal genetics, has raised €5 million ($5.6 million) in seed funding to aid development of its SeedAX platform and bring its first salinity-resilient wheat product to market.

Salinity affects about 10% of the world’s cropland, OlsAro said. Heat and drought also are putting pressure on cereal production, increasing the need for varieties that can maintain yields under these conditions.

OlsAro is developing cereal traits and varieties with an initial focus on wheat. The company said its SeedAX platform combines proprietary genetics and data, AI-driven trait discovery and genetic technologies to identify and validate climate-resilience traits, then integrates them into elite germplasm for commercial seed programs.

“We have spent years proving that we can identify and develop genetics that perform under some of the conditions putting the greatest pressure on agriculture,” said Elén Faxö, chief executive officer of OlsAro. “This round is about turning that capability into a platform seed companies can use repeatedly. By expanding SeedAX across more traits and markets, we can help our partners bring climate-resilient cereals to farmers faster and at much greater scale.”

OlsAro said its salinity-resilient wheat has shown an up to 41% yield increase over a moderately salt-tolerant variety under saline conditions in Bangladesh. The wheat is now undergoing field trials in several global markets.

The recent funding will support international field trials and commercial work with seed company partners as OlsAro prepares to bring its first product to market. It also will fund further R&D efforts, AI-driven trait discovery and expand the company’s IP portfolio.

New programs will target drought tolerance and nitrogen-use efficiency, extending the pipeline beyond salinity and heat tolerance. OlsAro said it also plans to move into other cereal crops, including rice.

The most recent funding round was led by Industrifonden, with Nordic Foodtech VC joining as co-lead. Existing investors Future Food Fund, PINC (Paulig’s venture arm), AgFunder and GU Ventures also participated. The financing follows OlsAro’s €2.5 million pre-seed round in April 2024, bringing the total raised to about €7.5 million.

John Reidy is senior digital media editor for World Grain, covering the grain, flour and feed industries. He spent 25 years in newspapers as a reporter and editor and has been an editor in the grain industry since 2019. He joined Sosland Publishing Company in 2021. He is a graduate of Creighton University with a degree in journalism. Connect with John Reidy on LinkedIn or via email.