$3.6M grant rains on Arcadia for Indian agriculture
Arcadia Biosciences has secured a $3.6 million grant from the United States Agency for International Development to promote rice and wheat cultivation in India for the next three years. The Davis, Calif.-based company has developed strains of the two crops that take up nitrogen and water more efficiently, and are tolerant to limited salt content. It will partner with Indian agriculture firm Maharashtra Hybrid in the effort.
Arcadia previously raised $55 million from venture backers and through its acquisition of Seattle crop research company Anawah. The last round, amounting to $15 million, came in October. Past contributors include Exeter Life Sciences, BASF Venture Capital America, CMEA Ventures and Saints Capital.
Next Story: Roundup: AT&T cutting 12,000 jobs, record spending on Cyber Monday and more
Previous Story: Symwave raises $10.2M for “sync-and-go” apps
About the Author, Camille Ricketts
Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
With GreenBeat 2009, VentureBeat's all-star conference on all things Smart Grid, coming up in November, Camille will be expanding coverage of this exciting space. Stay up to date by following @greenbeat2009 on Twitter or by becoming a fan of the event on Facebook here.