Ceres, Inc. was a biotechnology company based in Thousand Oaks, California, United States that operated from 1996 to 2016, when it was acquired by Land O'Lakes. The company was a spinoff from UCLA researchers. Its ultimate commercial products were seeds of genetically modified crops used for biofuel production.[1][2] In addition to its operations in the United States, Ceres had a subsidiary in Brazil called Ceres Sementes do Brasil.[3]
History
The company was founded in 1996 by UCLA professor Bob Goldberg and corporate partners with an initial capital of $50 million and an off-campus laboratory site overlooking Malibu, CA.[4] In 2002, the company signed a $137 million licensing agreement with Monsanto for their technology.