Grant will support continued development of BioBead, a hydrogel to improve soil health and financial sustainability for farmers
Seattle, WA – May 7, 2026
Washington Research Foundation (WRF) has awarded a $275,000 phase 2 technology commercialization grant to Korena Mafune, Ph.D., a scientist in the Winkler Lab in the University of Washington’s (UW) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The grant will support the continued development of BioBead, a microbial-embedded hydrogel soil amendment designed to increase crop yields and reduce fertilizer costs. Mafune received prior support from WRF for her work through a three-year WRF Postdoctoral Fellowship that started in 2021 and a $99,919 phase 1 technology commercialization grant in 2024.
BioBead harnesses the power of bacterial-fungal interactions to address two of the major challenges in agriculture. First, it naturally sources both nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)—two nutrients essential for crop growth—from the environment to supply them at a rate that is beneficial for the crop. Most crops are highly inefficient in absorbing soil nutrients at the loading rates fertilizers are applied; for example, only about 15-20% of fertilizer nutrients being acquired by the plant. As a result, most of the fertilizer applied to commercial crops is wasted into the environment, polluting waterways and the atmosphere. These costs can account for around a third of all farm operating expenses and they are prone to unpredictable price spikes from factors including geopolitical conflicts, rising energy costs, and supply chain disruptions. These challenges have disrupted U.S. farm viability as bankruptcies increased by over 45% in 2025 compared to the previous year, and the soaring of fertilizer prices can be exacerbated by events such as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Second, BioBead rebuilds the functional backbone of soils by re-introducing beneficial native soil microorganisms and equipping crops with natural tools for better resiliency. Fertilizer inputs displace the microbial communities that benefit plant nutrient uptake and resiliency, making crops more susceptible to die-off from weather events, pests and diseases. BioBead aims to lower fertilizer application rates while restoring soil health to provide a sustainable solution to soil and food security problems.
The core BioBead technology works by delivering beneficial bacteria and fungi directly to the crop’s root zone, where they increase nutrient absorption efficiency and reduce the amount of fertilizer needed for optimal crop yields. BioBead’s hydrogel encapsulation design allows bacteria and fungi to be densely packed together in a 3D construct, which protects them from being washed away during irrigation or heavy rain, a major vulnerability faced by competing products. The different ways and time points they can be applied are also being researched as competitive advantages.
“I’ve always been keen to understand how things below ground interact and how that leads to life flourishing above ground,” said Mafune. “This project really bridges the holistic idea of nurturing soil health in a way that enables farmers to feel confident about these new solutions. The current system is broken and unsustainable for farmers and also for the planet, and we’re depending on this broken system to feed society. If we don’t work on fixing this, with a focus on soil security, we’re just going to see our food systems fail.”
With support from WRF’s earlier grants, Mafune demonstrated that BioBead outperformed two commercially available competitors across multiple crops and metrics, including yield, in a 75%-reduced fertilizer system. The potential environmental and economic benefits are substantial.
The latest grant will fund two major milestones over approximately the next 18 months. The first is a field trial at the 21 Acres farm in Woodinville, Washington, to validate BioBead’s performance across additional growing seasons and crops. This should provide a clear demonstration of its capabilities and potential savings for farmers. Mafune’s manufacturing objectives also include a pilot-scale production investigation and shelf-life studies, in addition to regulatory engagement with the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA).
Mafune leads the project with UW professor and lab PI Mari Winkler, Ph.D. The research team also includes doctoral student Renee Davis, lab and field technician Roger Chen, and molecular biologist Bruce Godfrey, Ph.D. They plan to spin out a company within the next two years to commercialize BioBead. They are working with Willem Vriesendorp, a climate-tech entrepreneur who previously scaled wastewater hydrogels as CEO of CleanTeQ Water in Australia and is expected to play a leadership role in the new company.
“This phase 2 award to Korena is an exciting culmination of continued WRF support for her research over several years,” said Meher Antia, Ph.D., WRF’s director of grant programs. “The evolution of creative research by talented scientists into a real-world product is exactly the kind of impact that we hope to support through our funding.”
The project has received additional funding through National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Agriculture and Food Research Initiative grants from the United States Department of Agriculture, along with an Innovation Gap Fund award to Davis from UW’s CoMotion.
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About Washington Research Foundation:
Washington Research Foundation (WRF) supports research, scholarship and entrepreneurship in Washington state, with a focus on life sciences and enabling technologies.
WRF was founded in 1981 to assist universities and other nonprofit research institutions in Washington with the commercialization and licensing of their technologies. WRF became one of the foremost technology transfer organizations in the nation, earning more than $445 million in licensing revenue for the University of Washington. To date, WRF has provided over $189 million in grants to the state’s research institutions.
WRF Capital, the investment vehicle for Washington Research Foundation, has backed 132 local startups since 1996. Returns support the Foundation’s grantmaking and investment programs.
Korena Mafune, Ph.D. (Photo courtesy of Korena Mafune)