An Alderley Park-based agricultural biotechnology start-up specialising in synthetic biology has secured investment.
CroBio is working to engineer a plant-growth promoting bacteria capable of excreting a water retaining matrix in the soil.
The cash boost – secured from Catapult Ventures' GM&C Life Sciences Fund – will enable it to generate bacterial strains and evaluate its effectiveness in greenhouse trials.
Co-founder Ross Mulhall said: "CroBio is a unique company addressing global agricultural crop irrigation from a microbiological perspective.
"Currently, more than 70 per cent of global water demand stems from agriculture. Our technology aims to reduce the irrigated water applied to crops and potentially open new geographical regions where crops can be sustainably grown.
"We are thrilled to have received our seed funding from Catapult Ventures and thank Vijay Curthan for his support and interest in CroBio."
Vijay Curthan, investment director at Catapult Ventures, added: "Catapult supports disruptive companies with the potential to change industry paradigms.
"As such, we are looking forward to working with the CroBio team to develop their first engineered microbe and to test it in greenhouse trials.
"This product is a great example of how synthetic biology can be used to create new environmentally friendly solutions that fundamentally improve the agriculture business on a global scale and make farming more productive and sustainable."