Gothenburg agtech company OlsAro has raised €5m to scale a platform that finds traits such as salt tolerance and breeds them into commercial cereal lines, with wheat first.
Swedish start-up OlsAro has closed a €5m seed round to develop climate-resilient crops, the company said on 14 October. Industrifonden led the round, with Nordic Foodtech VC as co-lead. Existing investors Future Food Fund, PINC, AgFunder and GU Ventures also took part.
PINC is the venture arm of the Finnish food group Paulig, while the University of Gothenburg manages GU Ventures. The new money follows a €2.5m pre-seed round in April 2024 and takes OlsAro’s total funding to about €7.5m.
The pressure on cereal farming
Salt in the soil affects about a tenth of the world’s cropland, according to OlsAro. At the same time, heat and drought are putting more strain on cereal harvests. Farmers in those places need crops that still yield when the weather and soil turn against them.
OlsAro develops traits and varieties for cereals, starting with wheat. The company says it builds on more than ten years of research. It works with seed firms to speed up the hunt for useful traits and the breeding of new types.
How the SeedAX platform works
The company’s platform is called SeedAX. It combines OlsAro’s own genetics and data with AI-driven trait discovery and genetic tools. Together, these help the team find and test resilience traits.
Once a trait passes its tests, OlsAro moves it into elite breeding lines. Seed firms can then use those lines in the seeds they sell. As a result, the work fits the way breeders already bring new seeds to market. “This round is about turning that capability into a platform seed companies can use repeatedly,” said Elén Faxö, chief executive of OlsAro.
Field results from Bangladesh
OlsAro’s first product is a wheat bred to cope with salty soil. In trials under saline conditions in Bangladesh, it delivered a yield gain of up to 41 per cent. That figure compares it with a variety already rated as moderately salt tolerant. Put simply, it grew more grain on the same salty land.
The wheat is now in field trials in several markets around the world. Results like these were central to the investment, according to the lead backer. Sara Frykstrand Ångström is investment manager and head of intelligence at Industrifonden. She said what convinced the fund “was the scientific work behind the company, together with its field-trial results”.
Industrifonden is a Swedish venture fund with more than SEK 5bn under management. It invests from seed to Series A across the Nordic region.
Where the money goes next
OlsAro will spend the funds on international field trials and on commercial work with seed-company partners. It’ll also put money into research, AI-driven trait discovery and a larger patent portfolio.
New programmes will target drought tolerance and nitrogen-use efficiency. Both extend the platform beyond salt. In addition, the company plans to move beyond wheat into other cereals, including rice. OlsAro hasn’t given a date for that step.
Nordic Foodtech VC describes itself as the first Nordic venture fund focused on farming and food. It launched a €42m first fund in 2020 and a second fund in 2025.
Adaptation moves into the seed market
Climate-resilient crops sit on the adaptation side of climate investment. Farmers already face the salt, heat and drought these traits address. Field testing in harsh conditions is how such work proves itself, as with earlier climate and resilience trials for tea farming in Kenya.
For OlsAro, the next test is commercial. It needs seed firms to take up its lines and farmers to plant them. If the Bangladesh results hold across other markets, climate-resilient crops could reach growers through the same seed channels they use today.
