Pairwise Expands Fulcrum® Network with Rainbow Crops Licensing Agreement

Rainbow Crops will integrate Pairwise's Fulcrum® platform into its Trait Foundry™, bringing Pairwise technology to its seed and breeding partners worldwide

DURHAM, N.C., and GHENT, Belgium, Oct. 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pairwise and Rainbow Crops today announced a licensing agreement granting Rainbow Crops access to Pairwise's Fulcrum® plant gene editing platform. 

Rainbow Crops will integrate Fulcrum into its Trait Foundry™ platform, expanding its editing capabilities across internal crop programs and collaborations with seed and breeding partners around the world. Fulcrum is Pairwise's proprietary CRISPR toolbox, bringing together multiple editing technologies under a single license for precise crop improvement. 

“Fulcrum has already demonstrated its ability to perform in AI-enabled multiplex editing programs, including across Pairwise’s own crop programs,” said Tom Adams, CEO of Pairwise. “That proven capability is increasingly important as crop development becomes more focused on complex, multi-trait challenges.” 

Rainbow Crops’ Trait Foundry combines AI, multiplex genome editing, precision breeding, and automated phenotyping to develop complex traits, including drought, heat, and flood tolerance. Integrating Fulcrum broadens the editing tools available within that system as Rainbow Crops advances programs across crops, including major row crops such as corn. 

“Building Fulcrum into Trait Foundry gives us additional tools to pursue complex traits and strengthens what we can bring to the seed and breeding partners we work with,” said Giacomo Bastianelli, Co-founder and CEO of Rainbow Crops. “As more markets embrace modern breeding technologies, the opportunity is to move useful traits into farmers’ hands faster.” 

The agreement comes as Europe opens the door to precision breeding. The EU's new genomic techniques regulation, adopted in June 2026, establishes a pathway for many precision-bred crops to be treated like conventionally bred varieties, with the new rules set to apply in 2028. 

About Pairwise 

Pairwise is agriculture's gene editing powerhouse, building a healthier world through partnership and plant innovation. Co-founded by early pioneers of CRISPR, Pairwise's Fulcrum® Platform accelerates the development of climate-resilient, nutritious, and sustainable crops. As a trusted partner to global industry leaders and nonprofit institutions, Pairwise licenses Fulcrum to dozens of global organizations working across plants, animals, insects, and microbes. Pairwise helps breeders move faster while transforming food and agriculture for farmers, consumers, and the planet. Founded in 2017 and based in Durham, NC, Pairwise is committed to delivering innovation that makes food easier to grow and better to eat. For more information, visit www.pairwise.com.

About Rainbow Crops 

Rainbow Crops is a next-generation agtech company developing climate-resilient, high-performing crop varieties through its proprietary Trait Foundry™ platform. By integrating multiplex genome editing, artificial intelligence, precision breeding, and automated phenotyping, Rainbow Crops enables the systematic engineering of complex agronomic traits. The company collaborates with seed and breeding partners to advance sustainable agriculture and global food security. Founded in 2025 as a spin-off from the VIB–UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology, Rainbow Crops builds on years of publicly supported research and operates within VIB's advanced research infrastructure. Learn more at www.rainbowcrops.com. 

Communications
Pairwise
communications@pairwise.com

Daniel Brew
Rainbow Crops
daniel.brew@ederlab.com