As part of our Sacramento Inno coverage of the startup, technology and innovation economy, the Business Journal has compiled a list of startups to watch in the new year. These startups are poised to make big moves, either in growth, funding, technology or development. We're highlighting 15 startups, generally with fewer than 100 employees, about 5 years old or less and that have raised less than $50 million.
Woodland-based plant genomics analysis company MyFloraDNA is developing analysis technology that lets farmers find the plants they want among seedlings.
The 2020 startup is up to 15 employees, about half of whom work in the laboratory Lab@AgStart, an incubator for agriculture and food technology startups in Woodland.
The company has raised about $1 million to expand its operations and customer base, which is starting in the cannabis industry. MyFlora started with cannabis because it is a high-value crop, and it is a plant line that lags behind other crops in research and science.
MyFloraDNA only needs a tiny bit of the first leaves of a plant, called a cotyledon. With a tiny sample, MyFloraDNA can analyze whether it will be a male or female adult and determine if it has disease or other weaknesses. And it can get that information back to the grower in days. That means growers don’t have to spend weeks, or even years, feeding and maintaining the plant and waiting to see how seedlings work out.
MyFloraDNA eventually plans to offer its service to nut tree and orchard fruit farmers, who now have to wait years to determine the nature of their new plants. MyFloraDNA started out working in the labs of the Life Science Innovation Center, which is operated by University of California Davis and HM.Clause in Davis. MyFloraDNA quickly outgrew that incubation space and expanded to Lab@AgStart in 2022.
