Webinar | TiO₂ alternatives for food, pharma, and personal care Register Here
Instagram X-twitter Linkedin-in Youtube
GET IN TOUCH

Cquesta

Cquesta develops deep-rooted crops to sequester carbon and improve soil health, enhancing crop resilience against extreme weather. Our patented technology leverages natural plant abilities to increase root biomass, storing more carbon underground and bolstering climate change mitigation.
2022
2-10
Chicago, Illinois, United States

https://cquesta.com/

AgricultureAgTechCarbon CaptureFarmingGreenTechSustainability
Innovation
Investment Funding
People
Products
Awards and Recognitions
M&A and Collabs
News

Innovation

Industry Problem

Cquesta addresses crop stress from extreme weather by enhancing root resilience and tackles climate change by boosting natural carbon removal through deeper plant roots.

R&D Focus

Cquesta’s R&D focuses on developing deep-rooted, resilient crop genetics to enhance soil carbon sequestration and improve crop stress tolerance.

Innovative Solution

Cquesta’s solution leverages the natural ability of plants to grow deeper and larger root systems. These enhanced roots help crops become more resilient by improving access to soil nutrients and water, especially during extreme weather conditions. At the same time, the increased root biomass captures and stores more carbon underground, providing a scalable and durable carbon removal method that integrates seamlessly with existing farming practices. This dual approach supports both sustainable agriculture and climate change mitigation without requiring farmers to change their current planting habits.

Solution Effectiveness

Cquesta’s solution is highly effective because root biomass contains about 40% carbon, so growing deeper and bigger roots significantly increases carbon storage in soil. Even a small 2.5% boost in natural carbon uptake can equal the impact of cutting human emissions by half, making their approach powerful for both crop resilience and climate change mitigation.

Investment Funding

Last Funding Stage

Seed

Total Funding Amount

$5.0M

Last Funding Amount

$5.0M

Last Funding Date

December, 2023

Startup Stage

Seed

People

Founders

  • Michael Ott
  • Wolfgang Busch

Board Members

  • Ian Burgess
  • Sunaina Pai Ocalan

Products

Product

– Deep Roots Technology – Strengthens crop roots to access water and nutrients from deeper soil layers, improving drought tolerance and overall crop resilience. – Enhanced Root Biomass – Increases the amount of root material, which boosts carbon capture and storage in the soil, aiding long-term carbon sequestration. – Plant Traits and Genetics for Resilience and Carbon Sequestration – Develops crop varieties with superior genetics that promote stronger roots and better stress tolerance, while maximizing soil carbon storage without changing current farming practices. – Customer Reviews – NA

Star Product

Deep Roots Technology is the core innovation that simultaneously boosts crop resilience against extreme weather and enhances carbon sequestration by promoting deeper, larger root systems, delivering both agricultural productivity and climate benefits without requiring changes in farming practices.

Demo Product or Complete Product?

Cquesta’s core innovation, Deep Roots Technology, was first introduced in 2023. This technology leverages gene editing to enhance root architecture in crops, enabling them to grow deeper and store more carbon in the soil.

Awards and Recognitions

Awards

– Finalist – BioSTL Reach AgriFood Innovation Summit 2025 – CERAWeek Innovation Agora “Pod-Pitch” 2024

Media Apperance

– AgTechNavigator – The Gaurdian – The Scoop

M&A and Collabs

Collab

Cquesta has entered into a strategic partnership with Kielder Agro Group, a global agricultural company. This collaboration focuses on deploying Cquesta’s gene-edited crops with enhanced root systems to sequester carbon and improve drought tolerance.

Collab

Cquesta collaborates with the Salk Institute and other partners to develop its plant improvement platform.