TraitSeq, a developer of plant traits and varieties utilising its proprietary AI-based platform and RNA-Seq data to predict phenotypic traits, has successfully closed a pre-seed equity funding round. The pre-seed round was led by Deeptech Seed Fund, an early-stage venture capital investor, with participation from the QUBIS Innovation Fund, as well as five angel investors. The investment is expected to be used to expand the company's technology development and delivery team to support the development of a cloud-based platform, which is scheduled for commercial testing in 2025. Additionally, the expansion will increase capacity, enabling more commercial pilot projects with customers while strengthening TraitSeq’s offering and pipeline. TraitSeq was spun out of the Earlham Institute, UK in 2024 (see AgbioNews May 2, 2024).