Ying Shao, Co-Founder & CEO of Plantik Biosciences

Ying Shao and Aditya Nayak’s common adventure started in 2019 with cannabis. But not in the way you think. They created Plantik Biosciences, an AgBiotech startup developing next-generation plant breeding technologies, part of the Entrepreneur First program and the Founders Program at STATION F.

They decided to use hemp – a variety of cannabis – to accelerate the creation of new plant variety. Usually plant breeding takes many years and costs a huge amount of money. “Our dream is to create new plant varieties 10 times faster compared to traditional breeding techniques”, told Ying Shao.

“Design and create a plant like we design and create a car”

Accelerating this process is key to face challenges like decreasing food security and climate change: “We don’t have the luxury today to wait such a long time for changes to happen. We need to innovate in the way we make new plants to react to those increasing challenges.”

With Plantik Biosciences, selected as one of the 40 most promising companies of STATION F by appearing in Future 40 (2020), Ying Shao and Aditya Nyak are willing to change the way we create plants: “We are trying to contribute to a greener world and we are also trying to contribute to a scenario where we can design and create a plant like we design and create a car with the same amount of efficiency, precision and elegance.”