26
March 2024
Agronomics
Limited
("Agronomics" or the "Company")
Clean Food Group Secures £2.5
Million in Additional Funding
Agronomics, a leading listed company
focused on the field of cellular agriculture, is pleased to
announce that its portfolio company, Clean Food Group Ltd ("Clean
Food Group") has received a further £2.5 million in funding
from Clean Growth Fund
Management LLP ("Clean Growth Fund").
Clean Growth Fund is a climate-specific UK venture capital fund,
providing UK cleantech entrepreneurs with the expertise and capital
they need to reduce carbon emissions and tackle the climate
crisis.
The funding will be used to
accelerate the commercialisation of Clean Food Group's sustainable
oils and fats technology. The proprietary technology platform uses
proven, scalable yeast strains and fermentation technology and
utilises food waste as its feedstock to deliver more sustainable
alternatives to traditional oil and fat ingredients.
Clean Food Group's go-to-market
product is an equivalent to high oleic palm oil, supported by an
externally validated LCA (life-cycle assessment) which demonstrates
a 90% reduction in greenhouse gases when compared with traditional
palm oil. Clean Food Group's oil has been designed as a drop-in
ingredient that can be substituted in several consumables,
including baked goods, confectionery and cosmetics
applications.
To date, Agronomics has invested a
total of £1.6 million into Clean Food Group which is carried at
£7.0 million, including an unrealised gain on cost of £5.4 million.
This position accounts for approximately 4.2% of the last published
Net Asset Value of Agronomics
(31/12/23). Agronomics has an equity ownership of 27.4% on a fully diluted
basis in Clean Food Group.
Beverley Gower-Jones OBE, Founder
and Managing Partner of Clean Growth Fund said:
"Clean Food Group has an impressive team with a broad set of
skills, and who established several significant industrial
partnerships. Backed by a strong technical base, Alex Neves and his
team are well placed to commercialise the manufacture of palm oil
substitutes and therefore reduce the reliance the food industry has
on the production of palm oil, an industry which is one of the main
drivers of deforestation and a major contributor to global CO₂
emissions. We are very pleased to support CFG's development
and growth."
Jim Mellon, Agronomics
Executive Chairman commented:
"We are hugely pleased to be joined by Clean Growth Fund on
the register of Clean Food Group. As specialist investors in
climate technology, this investment is a real validation of the
progress that Clean Food Group has made in recent years and
reflects the quantifiable benefits of precision
fermentation-derived fats and oils in addressing the ethical and
environmental challenges associated with the
industry."
About Clean Food
Group:
Clean Food Group is a UK-based
food-tech business delivering sustainable oils and fats solutions
to the world's food and cosmetics manufacturers, with the mission
to deliver scalable, healthier, competitively priced ingredients
that have a positive impact on the economic, environmental, and
social health of the planet.
Clean Food Group is founded by a
team with key experience in growing biotech, food industry and
retail businesses supported by established venture capital and
family office investors with a track record supporting fast-growth
start-up companies in highly regulated industries. Clean Food
Group's proprietary technology platform has been developed as a
result of 8 years of pioneering research by Professor Chris Chuck,
technical lead at Clean Food Group and the University of
Bath.
About
Agronomics
Agronomics is a leading listed
company focussing on investment opportunities within the field of
cellular agriculture. The Company has established a portfolio of
over 20 companies in this rapidly advancing sector. It seeks to
invest in companies owning technologies with defensible
intellectual property that offer new ways of producing food and
ingredients with a focus on products historically derived from
animals. These technologies are driving a major disruption in
agriculture, offering solutions to improve sustainability, as well
as addressing human health, food security and animal welfare. A
full list of Agronomics' portfolio companies is available at
https://agronomics.im/.
Agronomics
Limited
|
Canaccord Genuity
Limited
|
Cavendish Capital Markets
Limited
|
Peterhouse
Capital
Limited
|
SEC Newgate
|
The
Company
|
Joint
Broker
|
Joint
Broker
|
Joint
Broker
|
Public
Relations
|
Jim
Mellon
Denham
Eke
|
Andrew
Potts
Harry
Pardoe
Alex
Aylen
|
Giles
Balleny
Michael
Johnson
Charlie
Combe
|
Lucy
Williams
Charles
Goodfellow
|
Bob
Huxford
Anthony Hughes
|
+44 (0)
1624 639396
info@agronomics.im
|
+44 (0)
207 523 8000
|
+44 (0)
207 397 8900
|
+44 (0)
207 469 0936
|
agronomics@secnewgate.co.uk
|