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GreenLight Biosciences Raises $50M in Private Financing Round

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) — GreenLight Biosciences announced today that it has raised $50 million in an oversubscribed private financing round.

The round was led by S2G Ventures, Baird Capital, and Blue I/O. Other investors included Continental Grain Company, Tao Capital Partners, and Alexandria Venture Investments.

GreenLight is using its cell-free bioprocessing platform to develop RNA-based agricultural products such as double-stranded RNA biopesticides for high-value crops. The Medford, Massachusetts-based firm said it will use the new funding to continue these efforts and to expand into new markets such as human and animal therapeutics.

"We're now at a price point and purity level that opens up a host of markets and applications to an RNA-based solution that was previously limited to the highest-value human therapeutic markets," Matthew Walker, managing director at S2G Ventures, said in a statement. "The GreenLight technology and products have the potential to bring about a new modality in human, animal, and plant health, providing highly effective, targeted solutions that compete with or outperform traditional chemical treatments in terms of cost, efficacy, and off-target impacts."

GreenLight also said it closed an $18 million Series D round in September 2017.

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