BRIGHTMA INKS DEAL WITH PUREGENE TO EMPOWER AND PROPEL AMERICAN MINORITY FARMERS THROUGH THE BRIGHTMA INNOVATION CENTER.
Zeiningen, Switzerland, April 25th, 2022 – To drive the impact of one of the potentially largest future circular economies in the world focused on hemp, BrightMa Farms will break ground on the BrightMa Innovation Center (“The BIC”) in Orangeburg, SC on April 29th, 2022. The center will be a beacon for cutting-edge research, financial equity, and cooperation, and is the direct result of a new collaboration between two industrial hemp pioneers, BrightMa and Puregene. The mission of the BIC is to pave the way to greater diversity and sustainability on a global scale and creating a space where Science, Technology, Community, Entrepreneurship and Education truly combine to impact the realization of end-product application. Rooted in history, infused with rich culture and propelled by scientific discovery, with large-scale technological backing, The BIC (the name which signifies the venture led by BrightMa and supported by Puregene) is establishing a world where literally anything is possible.
Puregene will support Brightma`s US based breeding program to harness the power of the adaptive range of hemp using it genomic based breeding technologies. In fact, hemp`s ability to grow from the arctic circle to the tropics is simultaneously one of its biggest challenges and its biggest strength. By reimaging the variety development process, adaptation to multiple climate zones and latitudes is happens simultaneously with variety improvement using next generation genomic prediction. By testing genetically diverse material in diverse environments Puregene can incorporates its database of highly beneficial environmental response traits into future varieties. With genomic prediction, breeding is literally flipped on its head, as diverse material is tested directly where it will be produced by stakeholders. Ultimately, the realization of breeding advances in real-time, benefits both producers and stakeholders.
BrightMa Farms is taking the lead in the global industrial Hemp market, for the immediate benefit of minority farmers, and ultimately, the industry at large. The aim was to expand territories and bridge the gap for HBCU talent to be engaged with deliverable supply chains using Industrial Hemp. The unique positioning of Historically Black Colleges and Universities offer an opportunity to rapidly accelerate Black economic mobility. The support from BrightMa and the 1890 Research Extensions has increased the impact of the HBCU footprint substantially. In addition, the first-of-its-kind initiative of BrightMa and Puregene increases its scientific significance and magnifies its scope dramatically. Puregene, the Swiss leaders in Genomic-based Predictive Breeding, are adding their extensive expertise and ground-breaking technological advancements, to amplify the venture to new levels of realization, as it accelerates Hemp applications, by implementing its proper vertical integration strategy. Every stage of the production process is optimized, ensuring innovation is directly implemented in the market.
In the envisioned pipeline, BrightMa Innovation Center will deliver varieties to HBCU research and extensions for testing, trialing, and application R&D. BrightMa is working with theHBCU Extension to further provide the next generation of high yielding hemp varieties to to minority farmers. Raw materials from minority farmers are then delivered to Brightma Farms for processing. Upon which the processed raw materials are delivered to strategic manufacturing solution partners that create novel products from hemp grain, fiber, and medicine. Final product development and market integration is supported by BrightMa Farms with strategic partners. In the end, every innovation that goes into every seed developed at The BIC has a market-driven solution, maximizing the gain for minority farmers.
Puregene, a global leader in the Genomic-based Predictive Breeding, is able to deliver on the key vision of high performance and industrially-ready hemp varieties. Although Hemp is regarded as the “Seed of Life” due to its numerous applications, it is the genetics in the seed that drive the growth of the hemp market. Puregene dominates this front, as it’s the company responsible for deciphering the DNA of Cannabis. The Puregene partnership offers the expertise, data, and technology that will be the foundation of the center’s advanced breeding platforms. This expertise will also be imbedded in training and internships for students. Bringing greater diversity to minority, with cutting-edge technology at its core.
About BrightMa Farms:
BrightMa Farms is a vertically integrated minority business enterprise and veteran managed Hemp group with corporate offices in Charleston SC and growth campuses located in Orangeburg and Cordesville, SC. They have been setting a global footprint that will champion an SC circular economy and pave the way nationally with economic development designed to benefit businesses, society, and the environment – signified by the triple bottom line (People-Planet-Profit). This transformative model is based on the principles of integrity, transparency, compliance and social and environmental sustainability. The founding partners of the Propel Centre are Apple, Southern Company and Ed Farm.