Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira, the world’s largest sugarcane technology company headquartered in São Paulo, will locate its North American research headquarters in St Louis, Missouri.

The newly formed subsidiary of CTC, CTC Genomics, will be temporarily located at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center while their permanent space at the Bio Research & Development Growth Park is built.

CTC Genomics will focus on developing new platforms for sugarcane which will allow substantial quality and productivity gains. The company plans to initially employ 10-15 people in its BRDG Park location enabling them to access some of the Danforth Center’s state-of-the-art facilities including the Center’s Transformation Facility.

“After visiting multiple sites, our encounter with St. Louis was the perfect environment to attract talent, and access unique infrastructures and transformation expertise for our bold start in the U.S.,” said Diego Henrique Souza Ferres, Head of R&D. “CTC Genomics will advance techniques to develop sugar cane and accelerate development and yield gains over time.”

“The region’s strength in agriculture research and development, deep talent pool and access to critical research infrastructure enabled us to win this very competitive selection competition,” said Sam Fiorello, Danforth Center COO & BRDG Park president.

According to company officials, St. Louis has created a thriving agtech startup ecosystem through a combination of home grown startups and companies that chose to relocate here from around the globe. Several organizations worked together on the recruitment effort including GlobalSTL, BioSTL's international company recruitment arm.

"St. Louis has a world-class constellation of plant science assets that is perfectly matched for what CTC needs to transform sugarcane, one of the most complex crops to develop. CTC leaders made a wise choice of placing their bet on St. Louis to help them make sugarcane a competitive and valuable crop for farmers and consumers," said Vijay Chauhan, GlobalSTL lead.

The State of Missouri provided various incentives including $175,000 in funding from the Missouri Technology Corporation’s Missouri Building Entrepreneurial Capacity Program to help offset a portion of the buildout costs of CTC’s lab space.

“CTC’s decision to locate it’s North American research headquarters in St. Louis is another exciting validation of Missouri’s position as a leading ag innovation hub and shows the importance of making strategic investments in our innovation infrastructure,” said Bill Anderson, Executive Director, Missouri Technology Corporation.

“CTC is exactly the type of visionary agtech leader that’s a perfect fit for Missouri and St. Louis,” said Missouri Partnership CEO, Steve Johnson. “It was a privilege to work alongside GlobalSTL, the Missouri Technology Corporation and the Missouri Department of Economic Development to show CTC why Missouri’s position as the global agtech leader gives companies a competitive advantage.”