CapsiBreed, an agritech startup, has signed a commercial agreement with Dutch seed company Erma Zaden to apply its proprietary technology for gene-editing elite pepper varieties.
CapsiBreed is a portfolio company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, through its technology transfer company Yissum.
The agreement will focus on enhancing the genetic qualities of hybrid hot and bell pepper seeds, using CapsiBreed’s gene editing platform. Under the terms of the agreement, Erma Zaden will provide elite parental seed lines, which CapsiBreed will modify by introducing novel agricultural traits, including improved shelf life, biotic and abiotic stresses, flavour, yield, colour, and emerging consumer preferences such as crispiness. In addition to peppers, the agreement gives CapsiBreed access to Erma Zaden’s other products: tomatoes, cucumber, melons and watermelons.
“This is a major milestone for CapsiBreed,” said Oded Skaliter, co-founder and CTO of CapsiBreed.
“This agreement marks CapsiBreed’s entry into the big leagues, serving as a testament to the company’s technology and capabilities. It underscores the adoption of advanced molecular breeding techniques and highlights CapsiBreed’s growing impact in the industry. CapsiBreed’s proprietary platform allows us to harness the power of molecular tools for breeding of hot and sweet peppers, that unlike other crops from its family, like tomatoes and tobacco, are notoriously known as highly recalcitrant for gene modification techniques.
“Our technology removes this bottleneck, enabling the efficient application of molecular breeding techniques to rapidly and precisely introduce multiple desirable traits—such as disease resistance and enhanced flavor—that were previously unattainable through traditional pepper breeding. This collaboration will help us bring improved agricultural produce to the global market.”
The collaboration builds on the practice of hybrid breeding—crossing two parent seed lines to create superior offspring. Yet, introducing new traits into both parental lines by traditional breeding techniques can be laborious, time consuming, costly and is limited to existing genetic pools. Integrating CapsiBreed’s technology will speed up and boost the process.
“This partnership embodies Yissum’s mission to transform academic excellence into real-world solutions,” said Alon Natanson, CEO of Yissum.
“CapsiBreed’s breakthrough is not just an academic achievement—it’s a significant commercial leap forward for sustainable agriculture.”
As global agriculture deals with pressures ranging from the impacts of climate change to the growing demand for healthier, nutritious food and sustainable farming practices—new technological solutions are gaining traction across the industry. The agreement between CapsiBreed and Erma Zaden reflects a shift toward the use of gene-editing tools to enhance crop performance and resilience. By focusing on traits such as yield, disease resistance, shelf life, and flavour, the partnership shows how agricultural innovation is moving from the lab to commercial application. Such collaborations may signal a turning point in how food crops are developed and scaled for future markets.
“This is the future of agriculture,” said Oded Sagee, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Capsibreed.
“Seed companies that do not adopt gene-editing technologies will fall behind. Meeting the global need for more resilient, high-quality crops requires innovation. This is the next green revolution—and it’s already under way.”
Founded in 2024, CapsiBreed’s technology, developed by Alexander Vainstein, a plant sciences professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, Food, and Environment at Hebrew University, enables the application of advanced molecular breeding techniques to rapidly modify multiple key traits in hot and sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum), creating peppers with tailored traits for agriculture, food, beverages, and pharma.
