Moa Technology raises $30M to push new-mechanism herbicides toward market

An Oxford spinout says it has found 80-plus novel weedkilling modes of action as resistance spreads to hundreds of weed species.

UK-based Moa Technology has raised a Series C round of £22.2 million, about $29.6 million, to advance herbicides that work through mechanisms not currently on the market. The company, which spun out of Oxford University in 2017, says it has discovered more than 80 novel modes of action for controlling weeds and overcoming resistance. The round was co-led by Oxford Science Enterprises and Supernova Invest, with existing investors also participating.

The problem Moa targets is real and growing. Recent estimates cite more than 500 unique cases of herbicide-resistant weeds worldwide, which have evolved resistance to 21 of 31 known herbicide sites of action and to 168 different herbicides. As older chemistries lose effectiveness, weeds cut into crop yields. Moa also reports a class of "amplifier" molecules that work alongside existing herbicides to improve their efficacy, and has announced a multi-year R&D partnership with Corteva, adding to ties with Nufarm, Gowan and Certis Belchim.

For food supply, weed control that stays ahead of resistance protects yields on land already in production, which matters more than expanding acreage. New modes of action are how the chemical toolkit gets refreshed before old tools fail.

The caveats are practical. The company, led by CEO Virginia Corless, has not disclosed a firm commercialization timeline and says it may be a couple of years from submitting for registration. It withholds technical detail on how its amplifier molecules work for intellectual-property reasons, and field-trial performance figures are the company's own.

Source: AgFunder News