Elaniti and Bayer join forces to unlock soil microbiome insights
Bayer’s Crop Science Division has started an exciting new collaboration with Elaniti, an AgriTech start-up leveraging machine learning to unlock the potential of the soil microbiome.
This partnership, facilitated by EIT Food, underscores the growing importance of corporate - start-up matchmaking in driving innovation toward a more sustainable food system. Together, Bayer and Elaniti aim to deepen the understanding of how the soil microbiome impacts crop performance, ultimately helping European farmers optimize yields and adopt regenerative agricultural practices.
Bridging corporate and start-up innovation
EIT Food has been a consistent enabler of impactful corporate - start-up collaborations, ensuring that promising innovations find their way into the hands of industry leaders. Through initiatives such as the EIT Food Accelerator Network (FAN), start-ups like Elaniti gain unparalleled access to corporate innovators, including Bayer. Since becoming an EIT FAN corporate partner in 2022, Bayer has actively engaged with early-stage companies from our portfolio, combining their leading Research & Development capabilities with novel technologies from start-ups to tackle complex agricultural challenges and accelerate delivery of innovation to farmers.
Elaniti’s participation in EIT FAN in 2024 provided the start-up with critical exposure, allowing them to connect with Bayer at multiple touchpoints, including the Bayer-hosted Demo Day. These interactions fostered a deeper mutual understanding of corporate needs and startup capabilities, ultimately paving the way for the collaboration.
Driving sustainable agriculture through microbial insights
Through this collaboration, Bayer and Elaniti seek to explore the intricate role of the soil microbiome in early crop establishment. By leveraging machine learning, their focus is on determining how a healthy microbial community can enhance plant growth and resilience. One key challenge they aim to address is identifying the optimal combination of input factors for farmers when soil microbiome conditions are suboptimal. The results of this research could significantly reduce the risk of early crop failure and enable farmers to balance economic and environmental considerations more effectively.
We are thrilled to partner with Bayer to support them in their commitments to scale regenerative agriculture. Incorporating insights into the soil microbiome is an essential step on this journey, and by working together, we can help farmers better understand and unlock its full potential
Scott Jarrett, CEO of Elaniti
Leveraging microbial insights can help us enhance nutrient use efficiency, optimize disease management, and support the adoption of regenerative practices without compromising productivity. This will be crucial in facilitating an agricultural system that both produces more and restores more
Michael Klueken, Bayer Science Fellow and Expert in Product Biology
The value of corporate and start-up collaboration
The partnership between Bayer and Elaniti exemplifies the mutual benefits that corporate - start-up matchmaking can deliver. For start-ups, collaborations with industry leaders provide access to expertise, resources, and market pathways that accelerate innovation deployment. Corporates, on the other hand, benefit from fresh, disruptive technologies that can help them stay ahead in an evolving landscape while supporting sustainability goals.
Collaborating with early-stage companies developing breakthrough innovation is critical, but identifying high-performing teams with genuine solutions is difficult. Engaging with innovation networks such as EIT Food is critical to identifying these often-hidden gems
Karl Collins, Director of Open Innovation for Europe at Bayer
It is really exciting to see Bayer and Elaniti collaborate and for this to have come together so rapidly. Soil health is at the core of sustainable agriculture, and this collaboration between a global player and an innovative startup demonstrates both the demand for solutions and the clear industry interest. We’re excited to see the results and the impact of this work
Marie Brueser, Senior Corporate Venture Manager at EIT Food
Strengthening the ecosystem for sustainable innovation
This partnership is a testament to the role EIT Food plays in fostering innovation by bridging the gap between corporates and start-ups. By curating strategic connections and facilitating engagement, EIT Food ensures that promising AgriTech solutions receive the support and visibility they need to scale.
This partnership exemplifies what EIT Food Business Creation aims to achieve—facilitating impactful collaborations between start-ups and corporates for the creation of a sustainable food system.
Examples such as the Bayer and Elaniti collaboration serve as a model for how corporate - start-up synergies can drive forward agricultural sustainability. Through continuous engagement and knowledge exchange, EIT Food remains committed to enabling the next wave of breakthrough solutions that will shape the future of food and farming.
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