Inari raises $144M as Corteva lawsuit proceeds – Boston Business Journal

Cambridge-based seed design company Inari Agriculture Inc. has secured another round of late-stage funding, prolonging its runway as a private business.

Inari, which was included in a recent group of most likely venture capital-backed companies to IPO, said Tuesday it raised a $144 million Series G fundraise, with plans to advance its technology platform and sustain long-term growth.

Most of the capital raised in the latest round came from new investors, such as “a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority” and “a large financial investor collaborating on forthcoming agriculture projects,” according to a release.

A spokesperson for Inari said in an email Tuesday that the fundraise “puts us in a robust position to further scale up and deliver impactful solutions.” She declined to answer questions related to the identity of the new backers.

Inari, which employs 102 employees based in Cambridge, combines AI and gene editing to develop high-yield, sustainable crops. Cambridge-based Flagship Pioneering, a life sciences-focused venture capital firm, founded the so-called “unicorn” company in 2016.

In 2023, Inari was sued in federal court by subsidiaries of Indianapolis, Ind.-based agriculture giant Corteva Inc. (NYSE: CTVA), which accused the Cambridge company of wrongfully appropriating Corteva’s seeds, making slight modifications and then seeking patent protection for the resulting seeds. Last year, a district judge allowed to lawsuit to proceed.

“Inari filed Counterclaims directed against Corteva’s misuse of the intellectual property law and anticompetitive behaviors,” a spokesperson for Inari wrote in an email Tuesday. “We will continue to defend vigorously as we believe the lawsuit is without merit and Corteva initiated it to maintain its current market position.”

Inari’s latest fundraise came about a year since the company announced the completion of a $103 million round in January last year, with participation from existing investor Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. With that fundraise, the company came at No. 8 in the list of top VC deals for Massachusetts technology companies last year. Inari reached a $1 billion valuation in 2021.

Existing investors such as the State of Michigan Retirement System and Flagship Pioneering contributed to the $144 million fundraise. The round brings Inari’s total venture-capital funding to $720 million.