Ohalo Genetics
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Agricultural biotechnology |
| Founded | 2019 |
| Headquarters | United States |
Key people | David Friedberg (chief executive officer) |
| Products | Plant breeding technology |
Ohalo Genetics (stylized as Ohalo) is an American agricultural biotechnology company that develops plant breeding technologies and crop varieties. The company was incubated by The Production Board, a venture firm founded by David Friedberg, in 2019. Ohalo promotes a breeding platform it calls Boosted Breeding and works with grower groups on strawberry and potato programs in the United States.[1][2][3]
History
Ohalo emerged from The Production Board, David Friedberg's holding company for science-focused ventures, based in the United States. The Ohalo team operated in stealth mode while building plant breeding tools, and publicly disclosed the business and its leadership in 2024.[1][4][5]
AgFunderNews reported that Ohalo raised a little over $100 million before publicly unveiling its "boosted breeding" strategy in 2024. David Friedberg stated that the funding would advance crop development programs and partnerships with seed companies.[1][6]
Platform
Ohalo describes its platform as Boosted Breeding, an approach that aims to suppress meiotic recombination so that offspring inherit complete genomes from both parents.[1][7] The company explains the process as creating polyploid offspring that preserve both parents' genomes, delivering predictable heterosis without traditional multi-year selection cycles.[7] The company states that the method uses gene editing and quantitative genomics to shorten breeding cycles and combine traits across crops.[8][9]
Ohalo announced crop programs in strawberry and potato as part of its initial commercial roadmap. The company launched the Ohalo Strawberry Consortium in 2025 to develop flavorful strawberries and distribute improved varieties as "true seed." Company materials describe a potato initiative that focuses on "true potato seed," yield improvement, disease resistance, and direct sowing.[4][10][11][12][3]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Watson, Elaine (May 21, 2024). "Armed with $100m in funding, Dave Friedberg unveils "boosted breeding" tech at Ohalo". AgFunderNews. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
- ^ "About Us". Ohalo. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
- ^ a b Zimmerman, Sarah (January 3, 2025). "Agtech seedlings: Florida farmers team with startup Ohalo to breed a disease-resistant strawberry". Agriculture Dive. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
- ^ a b "Ohalo". Ohalo. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
- ^ Morrison, Oliver (May 24, 2024). "'The yield gains are insane'. David Friedberg unwraps Ohalo's much-awaited 'Boosted Breeding' tech". AgTechNavigator. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
- ^ Morrison, Oliver (March 31, 2025). "Ignore the downturn, transformative tech will always make returns, says Ohalo CEO David Friedberg". AgTechNavigator. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
- ^ a b "Boosted Breeding". Ohalo. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
- ^ Watson, Elaine (March 12, 2025). "Ohalo CEO on 'boosted' breeding: 'Yields are through the roof'". AgFunderNews. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
- ^ "'Holy shit' moment for crop breeders as Ohalo unveils 'boosted breeding' technology". Potato News Today. July 19, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
- ^ "Ohalo Launches the Ohalo Strawberry Consortium, a Groundbreaking Collaboration with Industry Leaders to Develop More Flavorful Strawberries While Benefiting Farmers by Bringing Them to Market as True Seed". PR Newswire. March 5, 2025. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
- ^ "New strawberry consortium to focus on breeding". The Packer. March 10, 2025. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
- ^ "US: Trio of Florida companies join forces to combat strawberry diseases". HortiDaily. December 23, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2025.