Moa Technology, an agricultural biotechnology startup focused on discovering novel mode of action herbicides, has raised £22.2 million in a Series C round co-led by Oxford Science Enterprises and Supernova Invest. Joining Supernova as new investors are Agri Investment Fund; GrainInnovate, a fund investing on behalf of the Grain Research Development Corporation and managed by Artesian; Infinity Investment Partners; and Magdalen College Oxford. Existing investors Oxford Science Enterprises, Lansdowne Partners, Parkwalk and Oxford University Innovation also supported the round.
Weeds that have built up resistance to existing herbicides are increasingly difficult for farmers to control, and climate change is expected to make weed control harder still. Moa's proprietary GALAXY platform has screened over 900,000 compounds and discovered more than 80 novel mode of action areas, which work in completely different ways to control weeds and break resistance. After successful validation in the lab and glasshouse, the most advanced novel mode of action programmes are performing strongly against some of the world's toughest weeds across successive seasons of international field trials. In 2025, a new category of products called Moa Amplifiers was discovered, which are not herbicidal on their own but have the potential to reduce the amount or concentration of herbicides required, supporting productivity and environmental stewardship.
Spun out of the University of Oxford's Plant Sciences Department in 2017, Moa has become an innovation partner to the crop protection industry. Over the last 24 months, R&D collaborations have been formed with four leading companies - Nufarm, Gowan, Certis Belchim and Corteva Agriscience - to develop different novel solutions to help farmers protect their harvests from crop-killing weeds, with further commercial research partnerships expected. Ongoing commercial collaborations have been in place with Certis Belchim in the Netherlands and Gowan Company in the US since June 2024, while the major R&D partnership with Nufarm recently moved into its next stage of development and a new R&D collaboration with Corteva Agriscience was signed in July 2026.
The Series C funding will bring Moa's three most advanced programmes significantly closer to commercialisation, build the pipeline of early-stage novel mode of action herbicides and further develop the Moa Amplifiers programme. Supplementing the new equity investment are upfront and milestone payments from current and future industry partners.
When we helped spin Moa out from the University of Oxford's Plant Sciences Department in 2017, we saw that its technology platform had a unique and important approach to address the market's need for herbicides capable of breaking weed resistance. The success of the platform's discoveries since in the lab and field trials has confirmed Moa is on track to provide the new solutions farmers need to sustain agricultural productivity, and we're delighted to be supporting the company again in this fundraising round.
Weed resistance continues to spread. It is causing increasing yield losses, further undermining the resilience of farming operations, while climate change is expected to make weed control even more challenging. In response, the Moa team is redefining the innovation playbook for weed control by advancing both novel modes of action and its Moa Amplifiers strategy, expanding the toolbox available to farmers. Building on the company's strong momentum and proven ability to execute, Supernova Invest is proud to support Moa's journey to market.
This marks a major milestone for Moa Technology - a validation of the outstanding progress we have made not just in the laboratory, but also in striking commercial deals with leading industry partners around the world. We are particularly pleased that, through AIF in Europe and GrainInnovate in Australia, the farming sector itself is closely connected to the next phase of Moa's development, helping accelerate delivery of our solutions to the fields where they are so urgently needed.
