Performance Plants was founded in 1995 by plant biologist Dr. David Dennis, along with four partners. The company focuses on identifying the role and function of plant genes and the development of desirable traits, such as resistance to extreme heat or drought, in crop plants. It employs scientists with expertise ranging from molecular biology and plant physiology to statistics and agronomy, who focus their work in gene discovery and crop development. The company intends to become the primary source of a consistent supply of high quality feedstock for industrial producers and biofuels users. Performance Plants has strategic partnerships for development and commercialization in the corn, soybean, turf and ornamentals markets. In March, 2009, PPI received $5,565,063 in funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) in order to advance its trait technologies that improve conversion of cellulose into cost-effective biofuels and biochemicals.

Performance Plants Inc., an agricultural and biofuel biotechnology company, is striving to develop, test and validate innovative plant technologies that will boost crop yield and improve drought tolerance thereby improving global food security and preserving the environment.

PPI has a portfolio of proprietary technologies that improve the performance of crop plants, as well as the stability and size of yields, under environmental stresses, such as extreme heat and drought. Its most advanced product is the Yield Protection Technology® process, in which an additional copy of a crop plant’s drought-resistant gene is inserted into the plant’s genome, along with a molecular switch, to enhance the plant’s natural drought response mechanism. This ensures the protection of plants against seed yield losses sustained under less than ideal rainfall or irrigation. PPI’s Heat Tolerance Technology (HEAT™) boosts yields under high temperatures conditions. The company has also developed a genetic trait technology ideal for bio-fuels production, the Biomass Enhancing Technology™ (BET™). BET™ delivers four times the biomass yield by dramatically boosting vegetative plant growth. Lastly, the Enhanced Conversion Technology™ (ECT™) improves the characteristics of plant biomass for industrial uses like cellulosic ethanol, fast pyrolysis, and bioproducts. This allows for the optimum conversion of cellulose into ethanol or other biofuels. PPI's biomass crops promise to be low maintenance, high-yielding, and weatherproof.