Performance Plants Inc., one of Canada’s leading agricultural biotechnology companies, has announced the completion of a new financing round of $12 million. It is the largest private investment in an ag-biotech company in Canada.

The funding will facilitate the introduction into the market of the company’s Value Enhanced, Stress Tolerance (VEST™) technologies for crop plants. It will also enable the company to move its head office into new facilities in Kingston, Ontario.

Investors involved in this round include Investment Saskatchewan Inc., Regina; Golden Opportunities Fund, Saskatoon; VentureLink Brighter Future (Equity) Fund Inc., Toronto; and Dynex Capital Limited Partnership, Kingston. The new financing round brings the total investment in Performance Plants to $40 million since the company’s incorporation in 1995.

Performance Plants develops high-value plants for agricultural and bioproduct applications. The company’s targeted improvements to plant genetics generate powerful boosts in performance and crop yields in the face of environmental stresses such as drought and extreme heat.

“This investment marks a dynamic new phase in our company’s development,” says Dr. David Dennis, President and CEO of Performance Plants. “It reflects the continuing and steadfast commitment by our partners to helping us advance these very effective plant technologies into worldwide commercial markets.”

“Performance Plants has already demonstrated in field trials the ability of their VEST™ technologies to produce higher yields of canola – even under drought conditions,” says Heather Collins, Investment Director with Investment Saskatchewan. “This technology is currently being tested in other crops such as corn, soybeans, turf grass and ornamental plants. Given current and projected global climatic conditions, we are excited about the world-wide commercial potential of this crop enhancing technology.”

Performance Plants was honoured last year with a Promising Early Stage Company award by BIOTECanada, the national association representing the Canadian biotechnology community. This award recognized Performance Plants as “a Canadian company with demonstrated leadership and significant achievements during the past year.”

Performance Plants has offices in Saskatoon (Innovation Place), Saskatchewan and Kingston, Ontario.

Performance Plants was founded in 1995 and is based on ground-breaking plant research at Queen’s University and University of Toronto. The company focuses on gene evaluation and the development of agronomically important plant traits. Performance Plants creates value by bringing innovative crop technologies to the market. The company has established global product development agreements with strategic partners in the corn, soybean, cotton, turf and ornamentals markets. Performance Plants’ crop development centre is in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Its head office and gene and trait discovery centre are located in Kingston, Ontario.

Investment Saskatchewan Inc. is a designated subsidiary crown corporation under The Crown Corporations Act, 1993 and an incorporated entity under The Business Corporations Act (Saskatchewan). The corporation currently holds an investment portfolio of $413 million in a variety of industries and can place up to $50 million in new investments annually. Its head office is located in Regina, Saskatchewan. A satellite office is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.