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RNS Number : 3544X  Agronomics Limited  19 March 2026

19 March 2026

Agronomics Limited

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

Tropic Raises $105 Million Series C to Scale Commercial Rollout of Gene-Edited
Tropical Crops

Agronomics (LSE: ANIC), the leading listed company focused on clean food, is
pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Tropic Biosciences UK Limited
("Tropic"), has raised US$ 105 million in a Series C financing round.

The proceeds will be used to accelerate the global commercial scale-up of
Tropic's banana and rice portfolios and to advance its pipeline of
climate-resilient crops. The round reflects growing global demand for
resilient, sustainable food solutions, and Tropic's demonstrated ability to
bring high-performance gene-edited crops to market efficiently.

The round was co-led by Forbion, through its Bioeconomy Fund, and Corteva,
through its Corteva Catalyst investment platform, with significant
participation from Just Climate and IQ Capital. The round was also supported
by new investors ABN AMRO and Invest International, as well as existing
investors Temasek, Five Seasons Ventures, Sucden Ventures, Genoa Ventures and
Polaris Partners.

The announcement follows a milestone year in which Tropic launched the first
new commercial banana varieties in more than 75 years, including a
non-browning banana - named one of TIME Magazine's Best Inventions of 2025 -
and an extended shelf-life variety that increases green life by an additional
12 days. These innovations are expected to increase field yields, enable new
export routes and reduce transportation waste by up to 50 percent.

Tropic utilises its proprietary GEiGS® platform and other advanced
gene-editing technologies to develop improved crops with increased disease
resistance, higher yields and environmentally sustainable traits. The
company's core crop portfolio focuses on banana and rice, which together
provide a source of livelihood to billions of people worldwide.

By applying advanced genetic engineering, Tropic aims to address global
agricultural challenges and deliver innovations that benefit farmers,
consumers and the environment.

Jim Mellon, Executive Chairman of Agronomics, commented: "At Agronomics, we
invest in companies that are developing technologies capable of transforming
the way the world produces food for the better. As climate change and
population growth place increasing strain on the global food system,
innovative approaches are needed. Gene editing is one of the most powerful
tools available to create high-value crops that are more resilient,
sustainable and productive. Tropic has built a highly compelling platform and
assembled an outstanding team, and we are delighted to see a cohort of other
high-profile investors joining the company as it continues to scale its
impact."

Agronomics first invested in Tropic in March 2020 and has subscribed a total
of £2.3 million to date, which, subject to audit, is currently carried at
approximately £2.19 million. This position represents around 1.6% of
Agronomics' most recently reported Net Asset Value of £139.9 million as of 31
December 2025.  The fundraising is not expected to have a material impact on
the carrying value of the Company's investment in Tropic.

The full announcement from Tropic is set out below, with no material changes:

Tropic Raises $105 Million Series C to Scale Commercial Rollout of Gene-Edited
Tropical Crops

Norwich, UK - (12th March 2026) - Tropic, the global leader in gene‑edited
tropical crops, today announces the close of its oversubscribed $105 million
Series C financing to accelerate the global commercial scale up of its banana
and rice portfolios, and advance its pipeline of climate resilient crops. The
round reflects surging global demand for resilient, sustainable food solutions
and Tropic's proven ability to rapidly and efficiently bring high performance
gene‑edited crops to market.

The round was co-led by Forbion through its Bioeconomy Fund and Corteva,
through its Corteva Catalyst investment platform, with significant
participation from Just Climate and IQ Capital. The round was also supported
by new investors ABN Amro and Invest International, and existing investors
Temasek, Five Seasons Ventures, Sucden Ventures, Genoa Ventures and Polaris
Partners who participated in the round. As part of the financing, Joy Faucher,
General Partner at Forbion, Tom Greene, Senior Director at Corteva, and
Siddarth Shrikanth, Director at Just Climate, will join Tropic's Board of
Directors. Gustavo Bassetti, Rob Scott, Onno van de Stolpe and Alex Wilson
will join as Board observers.

The financing follows a milestone year in which Tropic launched the first new
commercial banana varieties in more than 75 years. These include a
non-browning banana - named one of TIME Magazine's Best Inventions of 2025 -
and an extended shelf life variety that lengthens green life by an additional
12 days, increasing field yields, enabling new export routes and reducing
transportation waste by up to 50 percent.

Furthermore, Tropic greatly advanced its Panama Disease (TR4) resistant
programme in 2025, with the shipment of plants to establish a mother
plantation - supporting commercial deployment from 2027. Panama Disease (TR4)
is fast-spreading, found in more than 20 countries globally, and represents an
existential threat for the $25 billion dollar banana industry - threatening
food security and farmers livelihoods.

Expanding global production to meet rising demand

With demand for its initial commercial products rapidly outpacing supply,
Tropic will use the Series C capital to expand large‑scale plant production
capabilities, strengthen global supply chains, and support commercial
partnerships across major export markets.

The funding will also accelerate Tropic's pipeline of banana varieties,
developed for natural resistance to devastating diseases such as TR4 and Black
Sigatoka, and expand development across its rice portfolio, and support entry
into additional high-impact crops to conquer global food supply challenges.

Executive commentary

Gilad Gershon, CEO of Tropic, said: "This funding is a powerful endorsement of
our team's ability to bring breakthrough products to the hands of growers,
exporters and consumers around the world. We are entering a new era, one where
gene‑edited crops will significantly enhance food security and
sustainability. 2025 proved that our technology delivers - not in the distant
future, but right now. With two banana varieties already on the market and
demand outstripping supply, this investment enables us to scale global
production and expand into new crops faster than ever before. We are excited
to be partnering with our new investors as we progress our mission to build a
world leading tropical seeds company."

Joy Faucher, General Partner at Forbion, said: "Tropic is an exemplary case of
how advanced biotechnology can be applied with precision to challenges in
planetary health, starting with banana and rice. Escalating disease pressure,
limited innovation and a lack of cost-effective solutions are driving a
growing environmental and supply chain risk in our food systems.

Tropic has proven its leading position in addressing these threats by bringing
its innovative technology to market and providing durable, scalable and
resilient solutions to growers. We are proud to partner with an exceptional
management team and a like-minded syndicate as Tropic scales commercially and
builds a globally leading, category-defining seeds platform."

Tom Greene, Senior Director at Corteva, said: "Tropic's non-browning banana
varieties are a promising example of how the agriculture industry is
leveraging innovation to deliver new and improved choices for farmers and
consumers worldwide. We're thrilled to support Tropic as we continue to
advance our global portfolio of next-generation solutions to help farmers
produce more food and feed, sustainably."

Siddarth Shrikanth, Director, Natural Climate Solutions at Just Climate, said:
"Agriculture drives the majority of nature loss, and waste across food value
chains is a meaningful contributor to global carbon dioxide and methane
emissions. Based on a decade of breakthrough research, Tropic has developed
crop varieties that are disease-resistant, higher-yielding, and hardier in
transit to tackle the environmental footprint of our food system at its
source. With the technology proven and the first products in market, the
company is now at an inflection point. As growth investors supporting the
commercial scale-up of transformative nature solutions, we look forward to
partnering with the Tropic team and our co-investors to bring their resilient,
sustainable tropical crops to growers worldwide."

 Alex Wilson, Partner at IQ Capital, said: "Tropic is exactly the kind of
company we look to back at IQC - deep technology solving a massive real-world
problem. Tropic's gene-editing platform addresses crops that have been
essentially unimprovable through conventional breeding, and the results speak
for themselves: two banana varieties launched, with strong demand from growers
and exporters fuelling significant revenue growth. With TR4 posing an
existential threat to a $25bn industry, the urgency behind Tropic's pipeline
is only growing. We are delighted to be supporting Gilad and the team as they
scale globally."

About Tropic

Tropic is a pioneering tropical seeds company dedicated to developing
healthier, more robust and high-performing varieties of tropical crops. The
company's core crop portfolio focuses on banana and rice, which together
provide a source of livelihood to billions of people worldwide. Tropic
utilises its proprietary GEiGS® platform and other advanced gene-editing
technologies to develop improved crops with increased disease resistance,
higher yields and environmentally sustainable traits. By applying advanced
genetic engineering, Tropic aims to address global agricultural challenges and
deliver innovations that benefit farmers, consumers and the environment.

About Agronomics

Agronomics is a leading London-listed company focused on investment
opportunities within the field of cellular agriculture. The Company has
established a portfolio of over 20 companies developing technologies that
produce food and materials historically derived from animals, offering
solutions for improved sustainability, human health, and food security.

A full list of Agronomics' portfolio companies is available at
www.agronomics.im (http://www.agronomics.im/) .

For further information, please contact:

 

 Agronomics Limited   Beaumont              Cavendish Capital     Peterhouse            33Seconds

                      Cornish Limited       Markets               Capital               Limited

                                            Limited               Limited
 The Company          Nomad                 Joint Broker          Joint Broker          Public Relations
 Jim Mellon           Roland Cornish        Giles Balleny         Lucy Williams         Jack Ferris

 Denham Eke           James Biddle          Michael Johnson       Charles Goodfellow    Amber Carr
 +44 (0) 1624 639396  +44 (0) 207 628 3396  +44 (0) 207 397 8900  +44 (0) 207 469 0936  agronomics@33seconds.co

 info@agronomics.im

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