Heritable Agriculture, a startup spun out of Google’s X “moonshot factory,” is using artificial intelligence to improve crop yields and make agriculture more sustainable. The company analyzes plant genomes with machine learning to identify combinations that could lead to better crop production. “Plants are solar-powered, carbon-negative, self-assembling machines that feed on sunlight and water,” Heritable explained.
Despite their efficiency, agriculture puts a significant strain on the planet’s resources. It is responsible for a large portion of greenhouse gas emissions, consumes the most groundwater, and can cause soil erosion and water pollution. Brad Zamft, the founder and CEO of Heritable, started the project at Google X.
“I was given broad purview to work on whatever I wanted, as long as it could scale to a Google-size business,” Zamft said.
ai-driven crop improvement
The idea of optimizing plants stuck with me, and it gained traction with the leadership.
Heritable’s machine learning models analyze plant genomes to determine combinations that could improve crop yields, lower water requirements, and increase carbon storage in roots and soil.
The company tested their models on thousands of plants grown in a “specialized growth chamber” at X’s headquarters in the Bay Area. They also conducted field trials in California, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. “We’re not developing gene-edited plants, and genetic modification is not on our roadmap,” says Zamft.
“Gene editing may eventually come, but we’re seeing a huge unmet need for identifying what to breed and then doing better breeding—crossing a mother and father plant, not using biotechnology to actually develop the [crop].”
Heritable has raised a seed funding round from investors including FTW Ventures, Mythos Ventures, and SVG Ventures, with Google also investing in the startup. The spin-out comes as Google’s X, led by Astro Teller, has been more aggressively spinning off companies, especially after laying off dozens of employees last January amid company-wide cuts. The startup is now focused on commercializing its technology, though Zamft did not disclose specific timelines or commercial partners.
By leveraging Google’s expertise in analyzing massive datasets through AI and machine learning, Heritable Agriculture aims to address global challenges in agriculture and help feed the world’s growing population more sustainably.
