MoA Technology which is focused on providing farmers with a diverse choice of innovative technologies for weed control, is the third occupier of the Bellhouse Building at The Oxford Science Park (TOSP), one of the UK’s leading parks for science and technology companies. The Oxford University spinout is based on research in the group of Professor Liam Dolan, previously a Fellow of Magdalen College, which owns the Park. In its 5,400 sq ft of new laboratory and office space, MoA will be advancing a new generation of safe and sustainable herbicide products towards the market. TOSP provided a turnkey solution for MoA Technology, project managing and financing its fit-out.
Currently employing 25 staff, and expecting to expand further in the coming months, MoA Technology was spun-out from Oxford University’s Department of Plant Sciences in 2018. Using its three innovative herbicide discovery platforms, the company aims to develop natural and synthetic chemistries that will provide excellent, sustainable and economic weed control in a broad range of crops. The company uses a plant-led approach and artificial intelligence to pinpoint and elucidate an abundance of new herbicidal modes of action, which are the key to solving the herbicide resistance challenge now threatening the agricultural industry. Used together in sequence, its platforms can quickly and cost- effectively find the safe weed control solutions farmers need.
Investors include BGF, Shanghai-based Bits x Bites, Oxford Sciences Innovation and Parkwalk Advisers. MoA Technology is the fifth company to graduate from the Oxford BioEscalator to The Oxford Science Park, and is one of several OSI investee companies to be located there.
Dr Virginia Corless, CEO of MoA Technology, said, ‘Relocating to the Bellhouse Building puts us at the heart of a vibrant community of innovation. MoA Technology is delighted to be in our new facilities, which will allow us to accelerate the development of novel mode of action herbicides, solving an urgent problem for farmers today and becoming building blocks of a sustainable agricultural future.’
Rory Maw, Bursar of Magdalen College & Interim MD of TOSP, said, ‘As our first plant sciences-based occupier, MoA Technology is a great addition to the innovation mix on the Park. We welcome it to the Bellhouse Building where it will be located alongside Enara Bio and Sitryx.’
