Wild Bioscience has significantly expanded its operations at Milton Park following a £45 million ($60 million) Series A investment led by Ellison Institute of Technology, with continued backing from Oxford Science Enterprises, Braavos and the University of Oxford.
The funding marks a major step forward for the company, enabling expansion of laboratory facilities, strengthening of its leadership team, and acceleration of its route to market for improved crop varieties.
At Milton Park, Wild Bioscience has secured additional space, increasing its footprint to 16,000 sq ft. The expanded site includes upgraded laboratory and office facilities across multiple buildings, including a newly fitted CL2 gene-editing lab. The site will operate as a dedicated crop design and engineering centre, with an initial focus on precision-bred wheat.
This expansion—combined with team growth and new technologies—has already enabled the company to triple plant output within months. Since establishing its presence at Milton Park in 2021, Wild Bioscience has grown steadily to a team of around 40 people.
The company’s facilities now integrate advanced laboratory environments with controlled grow space, enabling rapid testing and iteration of crop traits. Further investment is being directed towards converting office space into bespoke growth facilities, increasing capacity for controlled environment testing and accelerating seed production for field trials.
Wild Bioscience is also advancing its commercial strategy through global partnerships, including collaborations with The Traits Company (GDM), KWS, Dyson Farming and Pairwise Plants, supporting the development and international deployment of improved crop varieties.
Using AI-driven modelling alongside molecular biology, the company identifies beneficial traits from wild plant species to develop crops that are more resilient to climate stress, while improving yields and reducing carbon intensity.
The business has strengthened its leadership team with two key appointments. Lisa Flashner, chief operating officer at the Ellison Institute of Technology, joins as a non-executive director, bringing experience in scaling complex scientific organisations. Stuart Harrison joins as chief business officer following a 24-year career at Syngenta in global leadership roles across R&D, product development and investment.
Ross Hendron, CEO and co-founder of Wild Bioscience, said the expansion supports the company’s goal of linking AI-driven crop design with real-world validation:
“We are building a powerful design engine for resilient crops. This investment allows us to scale the systems that turn predictions into validated products, starting with wheat.”
Lisa Flashner added:
“Wild Bioscience combines deep scientific expertise with a clear mission to address global food resilience. This investment strengthens the foundations for scalable, long-term impact.”
Tom Booker of Federated Hermes Real Estate noted that the company’s growth reflects Milton Park’s role in supporting science-led businesses from early innovation through to commercial scale.
Wild Bioscience is part of a growing cluster of science and technology companies at Milton Park, where organisations can scale within a single, integrated location.
