This German Startup's AI Could Save Crops From Climate Change

Jan de Vries · 2026-08-18

What if farmers could know which crops will survive a drought before they even plant them? That's the question Computomics, a biotech research company based in Tübingen, Germany, is answering with artificial intelligence. The company just raised $6.7 million in a Series B round to scale its climate-smart breeding platform, and the timing couldn't be more critical. European harvests are taking a beating. Heat waves and drought have become the new normal, and the crops currently in the ground were bred for a climate that has already shifted. The European Commission's Joint Research Centre has cut its 2026 yield forecasts for all spring and summer crops, with maize and sunflower hit hardest. France is heading toward one of its weakest maize harvests in decades. ### What Computomics Actually Does Founded in 2012 as a spin-off from the Max Planck Institute for Biology and the University of Tübingen, Computomics builds machine learning models that predict how a specific crop variety will perform under given environmental conditions. Think of it as a crystal ball for breeders, but one backed by hard data instead of magic. The models combine genomic information with environmental factors like temperature, rainfall, and soil characteristics, plus real field measurements. This gives breeders answers to questions they can't get from traditional trial data alone: Which candidates will hold up in hotter, drier conditions? Which perform consistently across different environments rather than excelling in just one? And where should a given variety be planted? ### The Platform Behind the Predictions Computomics' ×SeedScore® platform runs these predictions at the scale of a full commercial breeding program. Its customers include breeders working in field crops, forages, vegetables, and specialty crops. The company also offers CropCompass and BreedScope as part of its climate-smart breeding portfolio, plus Pantograph, an omics data hub that supports trait discovery through pangenome analysis. ### Why This Funding Round Matters The round was led by Convent Capital Agri Food Fund, which invested $5.3 million. Existing investors like High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), MBG Baden-Württemberg, and Amathaon Capital also participated, along with founders and scientific advisors. The startup also receives support from the European Union under the InvestEU Fund. "We back companies whose environmental impact grows with their commercial success," said Stephen McLoughlin, Partner at Convent Capital Agri Food Fund. "Better breeding predictions mean fewer wasted seasons and varieties that hold up in the field, so the impact case and the business case point the same way." ### A Race Against Time Breeders have always wanted to create climate-resilient crops. The problem is time. Traditional breeding takes years, and the climate isn't waiting. As Dr. Sebastian J. Schultheiss, co-founder and CEO of Computomics, puts it: "Breeders have never lacked ambition about climate resilience. What they have lacked is a way to see it before the field tells them, which takes years they no longer have." This financing is about getting that capability into far more breeding programs, faster. The new capital will be used to scale commercial delivery of the platform and extend the technology to more breeding programs at a quicker pace. ### The Bigger Picture AI-based breeding of stress-resistant crops is part of the German federal government's High-Tech Agenda, and for good reason. "It is one of the levers that matter most as the climate shifts," said Dr. Frank Hensel, Principal at High-Tech Gründerfonds. HTGF has supported Computomics since the seed phase. Here's the thing: this isn't just about European farms. The same technology could help growers worldwide adapt to changing conditions. When you consider that global food demand keeps rising while arable land shrinks, tools like this stop being a nice-to-have and become essential infrastructure for the future of agriculture. The implications go beyond crop yields. Fewer wasted seasons means less water, fertilizer, and land used on varieties that won't survive. That's a win for farmers, consumers, and the planet alike.