October 4, 2019

By Lynda Kiernan

Front Range Biosciences (FRB), a leading agbiotech firm and breeder of advanced seed varieties of hemp, coffee, and cannabis, has raised $8.5 million through an oversubscribed Insider Round due to tremendous support from existing investors. 

Key participants in the round include Militello Capital, Welcan Capital, AFI Capital, Phyto Partners, Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of New York, New York Angels, Sand Hill Angels XVI, LLC, Arcadian Capital Management, Halley Venture Partners LP and Salveo Capital, who were joined by additional returning investors.

Founded in Lafayette, Colorado, Front Range specializes in the industrial scale tissue culture propagation of high-value crops for clone and seed production. With an advanced breeding program for identifying and improving commercially relevant traits, the company is the developer of the first Clean Stock® program for cannabis and hemp crops that provides a consistent supply of disease and pest-free plant stock and data-driven breeding solutions to farmers.

Furthermore, with facilities in Colorado, California, and Wisconsin, and established partnerships with the University of California Davis and the Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics in Barcelona, Spain, Front Range has been successful in building out a global reach for its technology.

“FRB is not just keeping up with the industry, it’s defining it,” said Vikas Desai, founder and partner at Welcan Capital. “The ability to execute on their exponential growth plan, while developing innovative products to meet thriving market demand, proves FRB is an industry pace-setter and in position to remain the leader amongst the competition.”

When considering the hemp and legal cannabis sectors, traditional propagation methods suited the industry’s needs while it was in its very early stages, however, as the sector matures and demand continues to intensify, operators are increasingly needing to integrate tech and scientific methodologies to strengthen and regulate the supply chain.

This funding brings total funding for Front Range to $23 million, and follows just about a year after the company’s $10 million Series A – the largest funding round raised by a U.S. cannabis biotech company at the time, and two years after its $3 million bridge round.

Over the past three years, Front Range has built facilities exceeding 160,000 square feet, has established a world-class cannabis genomics team, and has shipped millions of high-quality, high-value crop plants to farmers across the U.S. And although the company has a focus on the explosive hemp and cannabis verticals, it has also supplied coffee root cuttings to growers across California through a partnership with Frinj Coffee. 

With this latest capital, the company plans to accelerate its rate of expansion for its Clean Stock® program, breeding program, and its IP portfolio.

“The continued global advancement of cannabis legalization is creating an opportunity for unprecedented growth and innovation in agriculture,” said Jon Vaught, CEO and co-founder of Front Range Biosciences. “The introduction of cannabis to the agricultural market as a new crop with medical, nutritional and industrial applications presents a unique opportunity for us to use modern biotechnology to provide sustainable solutions for farmers around the world.”

“FRB continues to build on its position as the leader in agricultural biotech for the hemp and cannabis industries,” says Chi-Chien Hou, managing director at AFI Capital Partners. “The combination of FRB’s robust breeding program and their scaled tissue culture propagation results in tangible benefits for its customers by generating rigorous plants with higher yields and more selective expression.”

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to GAI News. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.