BioLumic is working with seed companies GDM and Tropical Melhoramento & Genética (TMG) to expand its UV-based technology into South America, while the agtech company is piquing investors’ interest as it scales globally, Steve Sibulkin, CEO of BioLumic, told AgTechNavigator.
Founded in 2013, BioLumic created an ultraviolet-based approach to developing seed traits through its xTraits platform. The company — which launched in New Zealand and has an office in Champaign, Ill. — has had its sights on Latin America (LatAm) for a while, Sibulkin noted.
BioLumic is working with TMG to develop corn traits for some of the largest corn regions in Brazil. Additionally, TMG customer and Brazilian ag producer Grupo Scheffer will conduct field evaluations of BioLumic seed hybrids across multiple locations including in Mato Grosso and other grain-producing regions, the company shared in a press release.
Additionally, BioLumic will expand its partnership with Gro Alliance from the U.S. to Chile to boost seed production and hybrid trait development, primarily to benefit seed companies in the U.S., the company shared.
“We are enthusiastic about exploring BioLumic’s technology within our genetics as part of early-stage testing. This is an important step toward understanding how light-activated traits could enhance performance and complement our breeding strategies in the future,” said Tomas Tresca, Global NGT Traits business partner at GDM, in a press release.
Brazil’s multiple growing seasons ‘are a gift’ to R&D
Brazil is not just strategically important from a growth perspective, but the multiple corn seasons speed up the testing and validation of crop traits, Sibulkin noted.
BioLumic is evaluating inbred germplasm from its Brazilian partners and will conduct field evaluations and hybrid nursery production in 2026, as part of the Safra and Safrinha corn growing seasons. Inbred germplasm is produced when plant lines have become genetically uniform through repeated cycles of self-pollination, allowing stable traits to be passed to hybrid offspring consistently, BioLumic stated.
“We need multiple seasons to innovate, test, validate, iterate on, and produce an xTrait. And so, the two seasons are a gift. That is a magical time warp for us, and we really have always wanted to take advantage of it,” he elaborated.
BioLumic finds capital amid VC slowdown
Despite an overall downturn in venture capital (VC) investment, BioLumic has “done well,” having raised a $13.5 million Series B round in 2022 and an oversubscribed $8.3 million Series B extension round earlier this year, Sibulkin said. Additionally, investors have already approached the company about additional deals, he added.
Inside BioLumic’s tech
BioLumic’s system compiles photo-biological, genomic, phenotypic data from various sources to find a "light signal recipe" to test and deploy, Sibulkin explained. Then, a trait activation system exposes the seed to that light recipe, changing its genetic expression, all without genetically modifying the organism or using chemicals, he added.
The company is using its technology to reduce methane gas emissions by treating rice and the grass fed to animals, through collaborations with philanthropic organization The Gates Foundation and dairy co-op Fonterra, respectively.
“We have been approached about some investment opportunities as we think about expanding into these geographic hubs, and we are looking at additional capital before our planned Series C. So, we are in active conversations right now about it. They are good investments and also strategically valuable for advancing the company and its deployment of xTraits across the globe,” Sibulkin elaborated.
VC deals in agtech dropped to $1.3 billion in the third quarter of 2025, compared to $1.5 billion in the second quarter, as exits remained suppressed and investors sought later-stage companies, PitchBook reported.
