Pluton Biosciences selected for Global Illumina Accelerator

In Missouri, Pluton Biosciences, a microbial testing and discovery research company dedicated to finding unique microbes to replace synthetic chemical applications in agriculture and pest control with eco-friendly natural products, was chosen for Illumina Accelerator, which partners with global entrepreneurs to build breakthrough genomics startups.

Pluton uses Micromining, its high-throughput microbial discovery platform, to identify and isolate novel bacteria, fungi, and viruses within months and not years, which dramatically improves R&D throughput for agtech companies and producers of pesticides.

As reported in The Digest in May, Pluton Biosciences and Evolugate entered license agreement to advance bacterial strains for commercial biopesticide development.

During two six-month funding cycles per year, Illumina Accelerator provides the selected startups with access to seed investment, access to Illumina sequencing systems and reagents, as well as business guidance, genomics expertise, and fully operational lab space adjacent to Illumina’s campuses in Cambridge, UK or the San Francisco Bay Area.