Ohalo
Ohalo is a biotechnology company that accelerates plant breeding cycles to develop new crop varieties. The company has raised $40M in funding and employs 120 people.
The growth story
Ohalo grew from 37 to 120 employees between 2022 and 2026, raising $40M along the way, most recently a Series B in January 2025.
About
Ohalo develops technology to speed up plant breeding, aiming to create new crop varieties with reduced land, water, and energy requirements. Its approach targets the world's most widely consumed crops.
The company, founded in 2019, has grown to 120 employees and secured $40M in funding, including a Series B round. Its investor base includes Craft Ventures, Hedosophia, and Valor Capital Group.
Founders and leadership
Ohalo's largest function is Research, with 19 employees. The company is led by a team with expertise in biotechnology and agriculture, headquartered in South San Francisco.
The Ohalo org chart
David Friedberg (Chief Executive Officer) leads 34 mapped leaders with 4 direct reports. Click +N to expand a team; names link to the person’s public profile.
Departments, and which ones grew
Headcount by function: Research 29 (+4% YoY), Operations 14 (+8% YoY), Engineering 13 (+117% YoY), Business Development 7 (+17% YoY), Information Technology 6 (+100% YoY), Product Management 4 (+300% YoY).
Talent flow
Ohalo's workforce includes alumni from Driscoll's, Syngenta, and Climate, with strong ties to the University of California, Davis. Former employees have moved to roles at Baylor Genetics, Corteva Agriscience, and startups like Verve Market.
Most common previous employers of Ohalo staff: Driscoll's (10), University of California, Davis (7), Syngenta (6), Climate (4), BASF (3), University of Florida (3). Former Ohalo employees most often moved to Baylor Genetics (2), Twine Ventures (1), MyFitStrip (1), Heritable Agriculture (1), Corteva Agriscience (1), Verve Market (1).
The Ohalo mafia
Ohalo alumni have founded three companies, including Verve Market, Twine Ventures, and MyFitStrip, collectively employing 19 people.
3Andrés Ornelas Vargas, was Co-founder & General Manager until 2023Leshika Samarasinghe, was Founding Chairman until 2020Juliana G. Kumar, was Director, BD & Strategy until 2025Hiring now
Web traffic
Traffic mix: 15% direct, 59% search, 23% social, 0% paid.
What this company is made of
Most common skills at Ohalo: Data Analysis (35), Research Skills (33), Microsoft Office (29), Leadership (28), Microsoft Excel (28), Project Management (27), Communication (27), Teamwork (21).
Where the team actually sits
Ohalo people are concentrated in California, United States (51), San Francisco Bay Area (12), North Carolina, United States (9), United States (4).
Search footprint
Ohalo attracts about 118 organic search visits a month, traffic worth roughly $1K a month if bought through ads. It gained 25 ranking keywords and lost 14 in the last period.
Frequently asked
Ohalo has 120 employees as of September 2026.
Ohalo has raised $40M in total, most recently a Series B round in January 2025.
Ohalo was founded in 2019 by Judson Ward.
David Friedberg (Chief Executive Officer) sits at the top of Ohalo's reporting structure, with 4 direct reports.
The most common previous employers of current Ohalo staff are Driscoll's (10 people), University of California, Davis (7 people), Syngenta (6 people).
Former Ohalo employees most often move to Baylor Genetics (2), Twine Ventures (1), MyFitStrip (1).
At least 3 companies have a founder who previously worked at Ohalo, including Verve Market, Twine Ventures, MyFitStrip.
Ohalo attracts about 118 organic search visits a month, worth roughly $1K a month in equivalent ad spend.
The most common skills among Ohalo staff are Data Analysis, Research Skills, Microsoft Office, Leadership, Microsoft Excel.
Ohalo staff are concentrated in California, United States (51), San Francisco Bay Area (12), North Carolina, United States (9).
Ohalo has about 29 people in Research, up 4% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Ohalo has about 14 people in Operations, up 8% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Computed from 88 current and 31 former Ohalo profiles, as of September 2026. Source: Crustdata.
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