June 1, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Spun out from Oxford University’s Plant Sciences Department in 2017, moa Technology was launched to address the increasing rate of resistance by weeds to herbicides. In support of its mission to revolutionize the evolution of crop protection, the startup closed on a $44 million Series B co-led by new investor Lansdowne Partners, a leading British asset manager, and existing investors Oxford Science Enterprises, an investment company created to found, fund, and build businesses by leveraging its unique partnership with Oxford University and Parkwalk Advisors, the largest EIS growth fund manager focused on university spin-outs. 

Also participating in the round were existing investors BGF Investments, Bits x Bites Growth Fund, IP Group, and  University of Oxford.

As a crop protection discovery company, moa is exploring nature to answer the urgent need for safe and effective weed control (which if lost, could result in the loss of about 40 percent of crop yields) in order to maintain the viability and security of food production around the world.

“Global agriculture needs a new Green Revolution if we are to feed the world sustainably,” said Hadyn Parry, chairman, moa. “Being able to control weeds is critical to both yield and the cost of production in most crops and new herbicide modes of action are essential. It’s very exciting to see moa starting to play its part in this new revolution by advancing so far in such little time.”

Using a plant-led approach, moa Technology is putting miniaturized plants to work to revolutionize the discovery process for new modes of action to control resistant weeds plaguing the world’s farmers.

The company’s three proprietary platforms: GALAXY, TARGET, and SELECT, uniquely leverage miniaturized plants in combination with cutting-edge genetics, phenotypic analysis, and data analytics to rapidly screen hundreds of thousands of natural and synthetic chemistries to find modes that work differently.

In its first two years of operations, this model has already yielded an order of magnitude increase in the discovery rate of novel interactions between chemistry and plant biology in safe, new ways, building out an abundant portfolio of novel herbicide modes of action. 

“There has been tremendous progress developing the mode of action discovery platform since we helped moa spin-out of Oxford’s Plant Sciences Department,” commented Martin Fiennes, principal at Oxford Science Enterprises, and non-executive director, moa. “It is very exciting to see the output from the platforms now begin to show the new modes of action for effective and clean herbicides that farmers so desperately need.”

Over the next few years, moa’s pipeline is expected to grow with the addition of new candidates to advance into development and registration. This investment will enable the company to advance its portfolio of leads through this next phase, and to further expand its prolific high-throughput in vivo screening platforms.

Virginia Corless, CEO of moa,ds stated, “We are pleased to have completed this funding round, which will enable us to accelerate the development of the most promising leads in our abundant pipeline and deliver the novel safe and sustainable products necessary for us all – farmers, consumers, anyone with an interest in the food we grow and eat – to be able to count on a safe, reliable, and resilient agricultural industry for the future. We are excited to welcome the new investment from Lansdowne and are grateful for the continued support from our existing investors.”

The company is pursuing multiple commercial opportunities including collaborations, joint ventures, and downstream partnerships to bring its portfolio to market, with the goal of delivering the tools farmers need to counter resistance as rapidly as possible in order to ensure the resiliency of our food system.

“Parkwalk is excited to offer its continued support to moa, helping advance the development of their novel technology that is so critical to farmers across the UK and globally,” noted Cassie Doherty, Parkwalk Advisors, and non-executive director, moa. “We have always felt that moa’s relentless effort to strive for global food security will enable a better future.”


~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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