Spearhead Bio
TAHITI transposase-assisted gene insertion platform for precise large-DNA edits in crops
Spearhead Bio is a St. Louis agtech startup spun out of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center via its Danforth Technology Company in May 2025. It commercializes TAHITI, a technology invented by Danforth principal investigator and Spearhead founder/CSO Keith Slotkin (published in Nature in June 2024) that fuses a transposable element to Cas9 or Cas12a so large pieces of DNA can be inserted or replaced at a CRISPR cut site. The platform targets both transgenic and non-transgenic (intragenic) crop edits and has moved from Arabidopsis to soy, rice and corn. Mike Bielski is CEO (DTC CEO Tom Laurita was CEO at launch). In September 2026 it closed an oversubscribed $1.62M seed SAFE co-led by BioGenerator Ventures and Danforth Technology Company.
Biotech
📍 St. Louis, MO
Founded 2025
Current Valuation
Private
PRIVATE
IPO Outlookprivate
Is Spearhead Bio going public?
No. Spearhead Bio is private and has not filed to go public. There is no S-1 on file.
What is Spearhead Bio's valuation in 2026?
No confirmed valuation is on record for Spearhead Bio. The roster shows funding and investors where they are public; it does not estimate a mark.
Has Spearhead Bio filed an S-1?
No public S-1 is on file for Spearhead Bio.
Who are Spearhead Bio's investors?
Spearhead Bio's investors include BioGenerator Ventures, Danforth Technology Company, QRM Capital, Grit Road Partners, St. Louis Port Authority Helix Fund, SDH Capital and 3 more.
How much has Spearhead Bio raised?
Spearhead Bio has raised $1.62M in total across 2 disclosed rounds, most recently a Seed (SAFE) of $1.62M in Sep 2026.
Is Spearhead Bio publicly traded — can you buy Spearhead Bio stock?
No. Spearhead Bio is a private company — its shares are not listed on any exchange and there is no ticker. The routes to exposure are pre-IPO secondary marketplaces and funds (accredited investors), employee tender offers when the company runs one, and public companies with read-through exposure. QuantLogix maps every route it can verify for Spearhead Bio on its Pre-IPO Access Desk.
Answers are derived from the roster record shown on this page — filing status, last round and confirmed marks. Where the record is silent, the answer says so rather than guessing.
Company Profile
Last Round
Seed (SAFE) — $1.62M (Sep 2026) · Lead: BioGenerator Ventures; Danforth Technology Company
Fundraising Status
Seed (SAFE) · $1.62M · 2 mo ago
privateTotal raised $1.62M2 disclosed rounds
Funding History
| Round | Amount | Date | Lead Investor | Post-Money |
|---|
| Seed (SAFE) | $1.62M | Sep 2026 | BioGenerator Ventures; Danforth Technology Company | — |
| Launch financing (unlabeled) | — | May 2025 | — | — |
Vertical Intelligence — Biotech / Gene Therapy
No name-verified sponsor record on ClinicalTrials.gov for Spearhead Bio — trials may run under a different legal entity, a partner sponsor, or not yet exist. Absence of a registry match is reported as-is, never guessed around.
Checked clinicaltrials.gov as of 2026-11-04. Re-checked weekly.
Talent Signal
No public careers page or job board could be found for Spearhead Bio as of 2026-10-27. That itself is a datapoint: no open external hiring surface.
Checked the company site and major hosted job boards. Re-checked monthly.
Investors
BioGenerator Ventures · Danforth Technology Company · QRM Capital · Grit Road Partners · St. Louis Port Authority Helix Fund · SDH Capital · Rovaq Ventures · Hjelle Consulting Group · Alta Grow Consulting
Products
- TAHITI (Transposase Assisted Homology Independent Targeted Insertion) genome engineering platform
BiotechGene EditingCRISPRAgTechCrop ScienceSeed Stage
Private-company numbers are not real-time. Reflects publicly disclosed valuations from press releases, news reports, and tender offers as of recent date. Refreshed quarterly.