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NuCicer, a US-based plant genetics spinoff from the University of California, Davis, has raised $4.5 million in an oversubscribed seed round. The round was led by venture capital firm Lever VC, with participation from investors such as The House Fund, Trellis Road and Lifely VC. NuCicer has developed a non-GM proprietary chickpea that features 75% more protein than its traditional counterparts. According to the firm, its technology has the ability to cut the cost of chickpea protein in half. The company says it will use the funding to support commercial trials to bring its ultra-high-protein chickpeas to market. Kathryn Cook, CEO and co-founder of NuCicer, said: "We are excited by the overwhelming interest we received from the investment community in our series seed round and are now focused on moving forward with partnerships and commercialisation. We aim to cut the cost of chickpea protein nearly in half, making it price-competitive with other plant proteins such as soy and pea. She added: "This creates opportunities for our partners to develop new food and beverage products using our highly functional chickpea flour and purified protein ingredients".