Wild Bioscience, a University of Oxford spinout focused on climate-resilient crops, has scaled its operations at Milton Park following a £45 million ($60 million) Series A investment led by the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), with continued support from Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), Braavos and the University of Oxford.
The investment has enabled a significant step-change in the business to accelerate the expansion of its laboratory facilities, strengthening its leadership team and advancing its route to market for its first improved crop varieties.
Expanding at Milton Park
Wild Bioscience has grown organically at Milton Park since it first arrived in 2021, progressively taking additional space as it has scaled to 40 people. The new facility will serve as a dedicated crop design and engineering centre, with a particular focus on developing precision-bred wheat. Combined with team growth and the integration of new technologies, the expansion has enabled the company to triple its plant output within a matter of months.
Further investment is now being deployed to convert existing office space into bespoke crop growth facilities, which will significantly increase controlled environment capacity. This will allow the business to test crops across a wider range of conditions and accelerate seed production for field trials.
Technology and Global Partnerships
Wild Bioscience uses AI-driven modelling alongside molecular biology to identify and harness traits found in wild plant species, to accelerate the development of crops that can withstand increasingly volatile climate conditions while improving yields and reducing carbon intensity.
Alongside its physical expansion, the company has strengthened its commercial pathway through a growing network of global partnerships. Recent collaborations have included The Traits Company, the strategic biotech arm of GDM, KWS, Dyson Farming and Pairwise Plants, to support the development and deployment of improved crop varieties internationally.
Leadership Appointments
The company has also strengthened its senior team with two significant appointments reflecting its next phase of growth. Lisa Flashner, Chief Operating Officer at the Ellison Institute of Technology, has joined the board as a non-executive director, to bring extensive experience in scaling complex organisations and deliver major scientific infrastructure. Dr Stuart Harrison has joined as Chief Business Officer, following a 24-year seeds industry career at Syngenta, where he held senior global leadership roles across R&D partnerships, product development and venture investment.
Ross Hendron, CEO and co-founder of Wild Bioscience, said:
“This expansion in infrastructure, team, and technology is a key step in developing the engineering loop that bridges computational design and plant biology. We’re starting with the world’s most widely grown crop: wheat. We’re excited to welcome Lisa and Stuart to the team as we deploy our Series A to fundamentally change how crops are designed, enabling agriculture to keep up with our rapidly changing planet.”
Wild Bioscience is part of a growing cluster of science and technology companies at Milton Park, where organisations are able to evolve from early-stage innovation through to commercial scale within a single location.
Tom Booker, Asset Manager of Milton Park at Federated Hermes Real Estate, added: “Wild Bioscience’s continued growth is a strong example of how companies can start, scale and specialise at Milton Park. Their expansion reflects both the strength of their science and the momentum behind the business, supported by significant recent investment, the addition of senior leadership and a clear pathway to commercialisation. It’s exactly the kind of journey the Park is designed to support.”
For more information, visit Wild Bioscience’s website.
Cover image credit: Aurelien Langlais
