(STL Magazine) Spearhead Bio Raises $1.62M to Advance TAHITI Gene Editing

Following an oversubscribed $1.62 million seed funding round, St. Louis Magazine featured Spearhead Bio and its work to bring TAHITI gene editing technology to agricultural companies. The startup spun out of the Danforth Center in 2025 and was founded by Danforth Center Principal Investigator Keith Slotkin, PhD.

This technology grew out of Slotkin’s research into how DNA can be moved and inserted within a genome. Used alongside tools such as CRISPR, the technology could enable scientists to insert or replace larger pieces of DNA, opening new possibilities for crop improvement.

The new funding will support Spearhead Bio as it adapts TAHITI for commercial crop development pipelines and expands the technology to additional crops. In the article, Slotkin discusses the challenges of translating discoveries made in an academic lab for use by agricultural companies and how Spearhead Bio is working to make complex gene edits more efficient.