Aardaia, a Wageningen-based agritech startup, is turning wild plants into high-yield, protein-rich crops. The company announced a €5 million seed round led by Point Nine to commercialize its flagship product, the aardaker — a novel tuber that could open an entirely new crop category.
The oversubscribed round was led by Point Nine, with participation from new investors Astanor and Grey, as well as existing backer FoodLabs. The funding will expand Aardaia's breeding platform and accelerate development of the aardaker, which the startup positions as a protein-dense alternative to traditional staples.
The move signals growing investor appetite for climate-resilient, non-traditional crops. Aardaia's approach — domesticating wild plants rather than genetically modifying existing ones — differentiates it from competitors in the alternative protein and precision fermentation spaces. The global market for novel protein sources is expected to exceed $20 billion by 2030.
If successful, the aardaker could reduce agriculture's environmental footprint by thriving on marginal land with lower inputs. But scaling a completely new crop is capital-intensive and faces regulatory hurdles around novel food approvals. Aardaia's platform aims to shorten the typical 10-year domestication cycle for wild plants.
Founded by plant scientists from Wageningen University, the team brings deep expertise in crop domestication. 'The problem is familiar but the solution is radically different,' the startup notes internally, emphasizing a biological rather than synthetic approach to protein supply.