Locations
Tel Aviv, Israel
Email Us
capsibreed@gmail.com
CapsiBreed is an Israeli ag-biotech company established to revolutionize pepper breeding using precise, CRISPR-powered gene editing. Founded in 2023, our mission is to empower seed companies with faster, more reliable ways to breed sweet and spicy peppers for better flavor, longer shelf life, and stronger resilience.
Our proprietary PepGEM™ platform was developed after over 10 years of academic research at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, one of the world’s top agricultural research institutions. What began as a challenge to transform peppers—a notoriously difficult crop to genetically modify—has become a commercial-grade solution with global potential.
Pepper breeding is slow, imprecise, and often fails to meet today’s agricultural demands. Traditional breeding methods take 7–15 years to deliver a new trait, and can’t introduce targeted traits like drought resistance or improved nutrition efficiently.
At the same time, global demand for peppers is growing rapidly, and climate change is making crop production more unpredictable.
CapsiBreed was formed to solve these challenges with a scalable, science-backed solution.
CapsiBreed’s founding team combines decades of experience in:
Plant science
Genetic engineering
Agricultural biotech
Technology commercialization
👤 Prof. Alexander Vainstein
A world-renowned scientist in plant metabolic engineering, Prof. Vainstein led the academic research that laid the foundation for CapsiBreed’s PepGEM™ platform. Based at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, his lab has pioneered genetic transformation protocols in peppers and other challenging crops for over 15 years.
👤 Dr. Oded Skaliter
With a PhD in Plant Sciences and over 10 years of experience in genome editing of peppers, tomatoes, and petunias, Dr. Skaliter leads CapsiBreed’s scientific development and applied trait pipeline.
👤 Dr. Oded Sagee
A seasoned entrepreneur and expert in agricultural commercialization, Dr. Sagee brings extensive experience in transforming academic innovation into global market success through partnerships, licensing, and IP strategy.
CapsiBreed was born out of research conducted at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI), Israel’s top-ranked academic institution and a global leader in biotechnology and agriculture.
HUJI has produced 8 Nobel laureates, and over 200 tech startups
Research from HUJI’s Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment led to breakthroughs in metabolic engineering, trait stacking, and pepper transformation
Through Yissum, HUJI’s tech transfer company, CapsiBreed licensed foundational technology for its PepGEM™ platform
CapsiBreed is proud to be part of HUJI’s legacy of turning science into real-world innovation.
CapsiBreed is already collaborating with key industry partners and has received early recognition:
Erma Zaden: Access to elite parental germplasm for commercial integration
Norfolk Healthy Produce: Partner for U.S. regulatory pathway
BreedX: Co-development of trait-enhanced, seedless pepper lines
Tnufa Grant (Israel Innovation Authority): Awarded for proof-of-concept lines targeting virus and pest resistance
These partnerships validate CapsiBreed’s commercial model and global relevance.
CapsiBreed is positioned to lead the next generation of precision breeding in peppers and beyond. Our near-term roadmap includes:
Commercial field trials in Europe, Israel, and the U.S.
Expansion into drought-resistant and nutrient-enriched lines
Licensing opportunities with seed companies and agri-tech developers
Scalable applications of our PepGEM™ platform to other crops in the Solanaceae family