CoverCress Inc.

St. Louis, MO · Founded 2015 · Agritech · Acquired

Cover crop seed — a legume species bred for off-season soil management and carbon sequestration

Claim this profile

Follows are private to you and power your alerts

Updated Oct 23, 2026 · covercress.com

Sector: Agritech
Headquarters: St. Louis, MO
Founded: 2015
Latest Form D: $26M, May 2022
Total capital: $36.6M

Federal grants: $806K; 3 awards · 2019–2021; 3.0× sector median 1 award
Private capital raised: $35.8M; 4 Form D · last May 2022; 54 months since last filing
Federal contracts: None on recordNo federal contract awards found.
Granted patents: 1; 9 pending · first 2021; Rank in peer group#19 of 80

Capital timeline

Latest events

May 2022Private capital raisedForm D · SEC · 4th filing$26M
Sep 2021Federal grantAgriculture · The Goal Of This Phase II Effort Is To Develop Covercress As A Commercially Viable Cover Crop For US Agriculture. Covercress Is A Winter Cover Cropwith Modified Composition Based Onfield Pennycress (to Make It Canola-like) That Is Targeted Towards Corn-soy Rotation Farmers In The American Midwest. The Unique Feature Of Covercressis That It Doubles As A Cash Crop Providing $50-70/ACRE In Net Returns To The Farmer. This Gives Farmers A Financial Incentive To Adopt A Cover Crop Strategy Because It $600K
Apr 2021Federal grantAgriculture · Development Of Novel Cover Crop, Covercress, As A Sustainable Plant-based Protein Source For Food Applications$106K
Apr 2020Private capital raisedForm D · SEC · 3rd filing$5.3M
Sep 2019Federal grantAgriculture · Development Of Disease Resistant Pennycress As A Novel Oilseed Crop$99K
Nov 2018Private capital raisedForm D · SEC · 2nd filing$2M
May 2015Private capital raisedForm D · SEC · 1st filing$2.5M

Node area is scaled to amount. Form D reports securities sold, which can differ from an announced round; filings are numbered in the order they were made.

Standing among 80 peers

Line = median

Agritech · Material

Granted patents#19 · top 24%

Cumulative measures favor older companies. Rankings describe position today, not outcome. Below the median, ranks show as a band rather than a number.

Founders and team

From SEC Form D filings

Charles BoltenDirectorNamed in SEC Form D filings
Dennis PlummerDirectorNamed in SEC Form D filings
Gerald SteinerExecutive Officer, Director, PromoterNamed in SEC Form D filings
Jak KnowlesDirectorNamed in SEC Form D filings
John PeryamDirectorNamed in SEC Form D filings
Rick HoltonDirectorNamed in SEC Form D filings

What it has protected

USPTO · 1 granted of 10

May 30, 2024PendingPennycress Variety B3USPTOApplication 18507719
May 30, 2024PendingPennycress Variety B28USPTOApplication 18507866
May 9, 2024PendingPennycress Varieties With Improved Shatter Resistance And Early MaturityUSPTOApplication 18501791

Show all 10 patent records

Pennycress Variety B3May 30, 2024 · Application 18507719Pending
Pennycress Variety B28May 30, 2024 · Application 18507866Pending
Pennycress Varieties With Improved Shatter Resistance And Early MaturityMay 9, 2024 · Application 18501791Pending
Low Glucosinolate Pennycress Meal and Methods of MakingAug 24, 2021 · US 11,096,403Granted
Brassica With Improved Pod Shatter-resistanceApplication 63382369Pending
Pennycress Varieties With Improved Shatter ResistanceApplication 63382351Pending
Brassica Ind Gene Mutations Conferring Improved Pod Shatter-resistanceApplication 19123274Pending
Brassica Ind Gene Mutations Conferring Improved Pod Shatter-resistanceApplication PCTUS2023078712Pending
Pennycress Variety B28Application 63385492Pending
Pennycress Variety B3Application 63385486Pending

Inari AgricultureSimilar federal contract value in Agritech · null in contracts
Fortiphyte, Inc.Similar federal contract value in Agritech · null in contracts
Neolithics Inc.Similar federal contract value in Agritech · null in contracts
SEIA BIO INCSimilar federal contract value in Agritech · null in contracts
NOVOCLADE, INC.Similar federal contract value in Agritech · null in contracts
JERSEY FLORASimilar federal contract value in Agritech · null in contracts

Regulatory activity · Agritech

Sector-level, not company-level

09 Jul 2026Supplemental Disaster Assistance Programs, Marketing Assistance Loans, and Sugar ProvisionsCommodity Credit Corporation
09 Jul 2026Revisions to the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Loan ProgramRural Business-Cooperative Service
06 Jul 2026Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP)Commodity Credit Corporation
29 Jun 2026Technical Guidelines for the Production of Regenerative Agricultural Biofuel FeedstocksEnergy and Environmental Policy Office
17 Jun 2026Rescinding Portions of U.S. Department of Agriculture Title VI Regulations To Conform More Closely With the Department of Justice's Regulations To Implement Executive Order 14281
11 Jun 2026Assistance for Specialty Crop Farmers (ASCF) Program; Approval of Information Collection RequestCommodity Credit Corporation

Rules are matched to sector, not to company. Recent activity in a sector is context rather than a signal about this business — until rules are matched to what a company actually builds, the section is shown as context and nothing more.

Sources

Federal grants from SBIR/STTR, NIH, NSF and DoD records. Federal contracts from USAspending.gov. Private capital from SEC Form D. Patents from USPTO. Publications from OpenAlex. Regulatory activity from the Federal Register. Press matched on company name.

How to read this page

Figures show associations in public records, not causes or predictions. Nothing here is investment advice. An em-dash means no record was found under this company's name, not that none exists.

Data freshness

SEC Form D filings through Oct 23, 2026. SBIR and STTR awards through Oct 21, 2026.