RCS - Agronomics Limited - Clean Food secures £2.5m additional funding

AgronomicsAnnouncement

26/03/2024 07:15

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RNS Number : 3014I  Agronomics Limited  26 March 2024

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 (https://www.cleangrowthfund.com/) Clean Growth Fund Management LLP
(https://www.cleangrowthfund.com/) ("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)
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/agronomics/news/rns/story/xop7j9r) .
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/
(https://agronomics.im/) .

 

 

 Agronomics           Canaccord Genuity Limited  Cavendish Capital Markets Limited  Peterhouse Capital    SEC Newgate

 Limited                                                                            Limited
 The Company          Joint Broker               Joint Broker                       Joint Broker          Public Relations
 Jim Mellon           Andrew Potts               Giles Balleny                      Lucy Williams         Bob Huxford

 Anthony Hughes
 Denham Eke           Harry Pardoe               Michael Johnson                    Charles Goodfellow

                      Alex Aylen                 Charlie Combe
 +44 (0) 1624 639396  +44 (0) 207 523 8000       +44 (0) 207 397 8900               +44 (0) 207 469 0936  agronomics@secnewgate.co.uk

 info@agronomics.im

 

 

 

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