Tropic Case Study – Launchpad

An agricultural biotechnology company based in Norwich is developing high-performance
commercial varieties of bananas, rice and coffee, supported by Innovate UK’s Launchpad
funding.

Tropic was founded in 2016 and employs over 160 industry-leading professionals. The
company’s mission is to address critical agricultural challenges like food security and climate
change through advanced plant breeding and gene editing technologies.

Due to the global population rising, the impact of climate change and existing agricultural
challenges, the world is facing a food security crisis.

Tropical crops such as bananas, coffee and rice are essential to the livelihoods of millions of
farmers, but they are increasingly vulnerable to emerging diseases, pests and environmental
stresses.

Bananas, for example, are heavily impacted by diseases such as Tropical Race 4 (TR4) and
Black Sigatoka Disease (BSD), which cause massive production losses and costs for farmers.
The banana supply chain also suffers from significant waste; in the top five producing countries,
every year, over 28M tons of banana are harvested, while only 8.3M tons are ultimately eaten.
These inefficiencies along the value chain generate more than 13.8M tons of CO2 equivalent
emissions and over 20M tons of waste every year.

Most commercial banana varieties are sterile, meaning that conventional breeding in this crop is
very challenging. Instead, Tropic uses cutting-edge genetic technologies to develop non-GMO
banana varieties that are resistant to TR4 and BSD, as well as improving fruit durability to
promote reduced waste along the supply chain.

The Innovate UK Launchpad funding enables Tropic to support the development of more
efficient methods for introducing new genetic traits into crops, initially focusing on bananas.
Improving Tropic’s capacity for gene editing will accelerate the route to market for climate
resilient crops, bringing a sustainable and food-secure planet a step closer.

Philip Zegerman, Head of Research at Tropic, confirms “we are very excited to receive this
grant from the Innovate UK Agritech launchpad. Bananas are the world’s most popular fruit, and
the fourth largest crop, but banana yields are at high risk from climate change and increased
disease pressure. Combined with this grant funding, Tropic’s novel precision breeding
technology will underpin a new generation of banana varieties able to withstand the impacts of
climate change, thereby increasing economic security for farmers and sustainable supply for
consumers.”
For more information visit www.tropic.bio