Local Initiative Brings Israeli Company to St. Louis

The St. Louis region is widely recognized for generating groundbreaking work in medicine and bioscience at some of the nation’s leading universities and innovative companies. BioSTL, a regional organization seeking to enhance St. Louis’ bioscience sector, launched an initiative to capitalize on these strengths by encouraging Israeli businesses to choose St. Louis as their US headquarters.

Thanks to BioSTL’s St. Louis–Israel Innovation Connection (SLIIC), Kaiima Bio-Agritech, a plant genetics and breeding-technology company, announced last month that it will establish a presence in St. Louis. I had the pleasure of attending BioSTL’s reception to welcome the company to our city.

Israel is so well known for its innovative enterprises that it is often called the “startup nation.” Many of these companies, like Kaiima Bio-Agritech, are an excellent fit for St. Louis’ strengths in medicine and agricultural technology and would benefit from our region’s research tradition, network of entrepreneurs, and world-class educational institutions. The St. Louis area’s economy will be boosted by the addition of new businesses and the introduction of more innovative global technologies.

SLIIC strives to attract new companies to St. Louis by informing Israeli innovators about the benefits St. Louis offers, identifying businesses that may be interested in St. Louis, and connecting Israeli companies to potential partners in our area. The initiative targets established companies that have been successful with customers and shareholders and are now seeking to expand their operations to the US. Kaiima Bio-Agritech, for example, developed a non-GMO platform to boost crop yields and has generated $98 million in venture capital financings since its inception in 2007.

The St. Louis area has long enjoyed a tradition of vibrant research and entrepreneurship. BioSTL’s efforts to raise awareness of these strengths internationally will help our region grow into a globally competitive hub of technological development and innovation.