Danforth Center Startup Spearhead Bio Closes Oversubscribed $1.62M Seed Round

Funding will bring next-generation crop engineering technology to farmers  

ST. LOUIS, MO (September 17, 2026) — Spearhead Bio, a Danforth Technology Company (DTC) spin out, announced today that it closed an oversubscribed $1.62M seed round SAFE investment to advance the development and implementation of its patented TAHITI genome engineering technology. Spearhead Bio was founded in 2024 by Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Principal Investigator Dr. Keith Slotkin. TAHITI is a breakthrough platform that opens the door for the use of CRISPR to do large-scale GMO and non-GMO gene replacement in all agricultural crops. 

The round was led by BioGenerator Ventures and DTC with the participation of QRM Capital, Grit Road Partners, St. Louis Port Authority Helix Fund, SDH Capital, and other investors. Spearhead Bio, located at the Danforth Center, is the third spinout founded by the DTC. Spearhead Bio's rapid growth has been driven by Dr. Slotkin's groundbreaking 2024 publication describing the invention of TAHITI in the journal Nature, the creation of a broad IP estate at the Danforth Center, and the signature of multiple TAHITI industry licenses. The underlying science was supported by multiple National Science Foundation grants, and the company won a competitive Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant in 2025.  

"Our initial 2024 SAFE round enabled us to prove that TAHITI works in multiple crops, and we now know that industry sees the immediate value,” said Dr. Slotkin. “This second round gives us the runway to demonstrate how TAHITI saves our partners years of development time and millions of dollars in crop improvement." 

Spearhead Bio CEO Mike Bielski added: “TAHITI will fundamentally change genome engineering in agriculture. By enabling the precise and efficient movement of large DNA cargo, it provides a transformative new platform for developing both GMO and non-GMO crops.” 

Spearhead Bio is the latest company to launch through the Danforth Center Startup Initiative, a strategic program designed to accelerate transformative Danforth Center plant science from the laboratory to the commercial market. The Startup Initiative supports pre-commercial innovations in food security and environmental sustainability by providing entrepreneurs with access to mentorship, business development strategies, and early-stage capital.  

The DTC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Danforth Center, is a key part of the Initiative that facilitates the creation of, and investment in, startups built on its scientists' intellectual property. Spearhead Bio joins Metablify, Peptyde Bio, Agrela Ecosystems, and RNAissance Ag as companies to emerge from the Startup Initiative in recent years. 

Danforth Center President Giles Oldroyd noted the significance of the investment in Spearhead Bio: "The Danforth Center is doubling down on our commitment to growing St. Louis as a global center for agtech innovation. Spearhead Bio's oversubscribed raise shows investors agree: the science coming out of the Danforth Center is market-leading, and this region is the right place to build it." 

With this new funding, Spearhead Bio is positioned to expand its crop portfolio, increase the number of crops being engineered with TAHITI, and deepen partnerships with industry players advancing the next generation of crop improvement tools. Spearhead TAHITI’s technology is being adopted for its unique abilities, including by Dr. Nigel Taylor’s laboratory at the Danforth Center, which has had early success with TAHITI in the African food security crop cassava.