REG - Agronomics Limited - BlueNalu Update: NEOM Signs MoU with BlueNalu

AgronomicsAnnouncement

01/11/2023 07:15

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RNS Number : 9445R  Agronomics Limited  01 November 2023

1 November 2023

Agronomics Limited

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

NEOM Signs MoU with BlueNalu to Commercialise, Market and Distribute
BlueNalu's Cell-Cultured Seafood

Agronomics (ANIC:LSE), the leading listed company focused on the field of
cellular agriculture, is pleased to report that, following the recently
announced completion of portfolio company BlueNalu's US$ 35.5 million Series B
Financing Round, NEOM Investment Fund was the lead investor with a US$ 20
million investment. BlueNalu have reported that this investment marks the
start of a strategic partnership that aims to progress the commercialisation,
marketing, and distribution of BlueNalu's cell-cultured seafood products, and
reflects the mutual interests of both organisations in developing solutions
that increase food security and improve access to healthy foods for
communities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and worldwide.

In aggregate, Agronomics has invested US$ 8 million across BlueNalu's Seed and
Series A Financings and a pre-Series B Convertible Promissory Note ("CPN").
Following the close of the Series B, the CPN has been converted into Series B
Preferred Shares. Agronomics now holds an equity stake in BlueNalu of 5.12% on
a fully diluted basis. Subject to audit, Agronomics will now carry this
position forward at a book value of £13.3 million, representing an IRR of
26.85% and a MOIC of 2x.

 

The holding in BlueNalu will amount to approximately 8% of the last published
Net Asset Value of the Company (30.06.23), including estimated post-balance
sheet date adjustments.

NEOM's full announcement is set out below without any material changes:

NEOM and BlueNalu Forge Strategic Partnership to Revolutionise Sustainable and
Secure Food Ecosystem

NEOM, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 31 October 2023: NEOM, the sustainable regional
development taking shape in northwest Saudi Arabia, has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with BlueNalu, the global leader in the development of
cell-cultured seafood.

The partnership aims to progress the commercialisation, marketing, and
distribution of BlueNalu's cell-cultured seafood products, and reflects the
mutual interests of both organisations in developing food solutions that
increase food security and improve access to healthy foods for communities in
the Kingdom and worldwide.

Core objectives of the MoU include supporting the establishment of an
incubation and food innovation ecosystem in the Kingdom; public education and
outreach activities; conducting extensive consumer research; and engaging with
regulatory agencies to enable the approval and sale of these novel foods.

This partnership followed NEOM Investment Fund USD 20 million investment in
BlueNalu. The funding will enable the next stage of BlueNalu's growth and its
continued progress toward scaling and commercialising healthy and sustainable
seafood around the globe.

Majid Mufti, Chief Executive Officer of NEOM Investment Fund, commented: "Our
investment in BlueNalu goes beyond mere financial backing; it marks a pivotal
moment in our commitment to fostering sustainable regenerative aquaculture and
resilient food ecosystems. By aligning NEOM Food with BlueNalu's trailblazing
approach, we're not just envisioning a sustainable future-we're investing in
the transformative technologies that make it achievable. This is yet another
demonstration of how NEOM Investment Fund serves as a cornerstone in
actualizing NEOM's overarching vision."

Dr. Juan Carlos Motamayor, Executive Director of NEOM Food, said: "NEOM is
committed to building a resilient future, and our partnership with BlueNalu
aligns perfectly with our goals. In BlueNalu, we have found the perfect nexus
of visionary leadership, groundbreaking technology, and a holistic approach to
product innovation. We look forward to working with them to shape a more
sustainable and resilient food ecosystem."

Cell-cultured seafood, real seafood produced directly from fish cells, is
poised to revolutionize the production and consumption of these products
around the globe. This emerging technology can result in seafood with the same
taste, texture, and nutritional value as their conventional counterparts, but
resulting in products that are consistent, healthy, secure, and sustainable,
thereby fulfilling consumer preferences. Importantly, this production method
has the potential to significantly reduce the environmental impact of protein
production.

 Lou Cooperhouse, Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer of
BlueNalu, said: "This collaboration with NEOM is a monumental step towards
creating a more secure and accessible supply of seafood in the Kingdom. By
combining our global expertise in cell-cultured seafood and the tremendous
number of strategic partnerships we've developed to date at BlueNalu, together
with NEOM's extraordinary vision and resources, we can accelerate the
development of innovative, renewable food solutions via cell-cultured
seafood."

The partnership further strengthens NEOM's ongoing commitment to harnessing
innovation to nourish people and the planet and guaranteeing food security for
generations to come.

 

-end-

About NEOM

NEOM is an accelerator of human progress and a vision of what a new future
might look like. It is a region in northwest Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea being
built from the ground up as a living laboratory - a place where
entrepreneurship will chart the course for this new future. It will be a
destination and a home for people who dream big and want to be part of
building a new model for exceptional livability, creating thriving businesses
and reinventing environmental conservation.

NEOM will include hyperconnected, cognitive cities, ports and enterprise
zones, research centers, sports and entertainment venues and tourist
destinations. As a hub for innovation, entrepreneurs, business leaders and
companies will come to research, incubate, and commercialize new technologies
and enterprises in groundbreaking ways. Residents of NEOM will embody an
international ethos and embrace a culture of exploration, risk-taking and
diversity.

For further information email media@NEOM.com or visit (http://www.neom.com/)
www.NEOM.com (http://www.neom.com/) and (http://www.neom.com/en-us/newsroom)
www.NEOM.com/en-us/newsroom (http://www.neom.com/en-us/newsroom) .

For further information about BlueNalu please visit (http://www.bluenalu.com/)
www.BlueNalu.com (http://www.bluenalu.com/) .

About Agronomics

Agronomics (https://agronomics.im/) is the leading listed venture capital firm
with a focus on cellular agriculture. The Company has established a portfolio
of over 20 companies at the Pre-Seed to Series C stage in this rapidly
advancing sector. It seeks to secure minority stakes in companies owning
technologies with defensible intellectual property that offer new ways of
producing food and materials 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, animal welfare and environmental damage. This
disruption will decouple supply chains from the environment and animals, as
well as being fundamental to feeding the world's expanding population.

About Cellular Agriculture

 

Cellular Agriculture is the production of agriculture products directly from
cells, as opposed to raising an animal for slaughter or growing crops. This
encompasses cell culture to produce cultivated meat and materials, and
fermentation processes that harness a combination of molecular biology,
synthetic biology, tissue engineering and biotechnology to massively simplify
production methods in a sustainable manner.

 

Over the coming decades, the source of the world's food supply traditionally
derived from conventional agriculture is going to change dramatically. We have
already witnessed the first wave of this shift with the consumer adoption of
plant-based alternative proteins but today, we are on the cusp of an even
bigger wave of change. This is being facilitated by advances in cellular
agriculture. This change is necessary, given scientists' claims that if we
maintain existing animal protein consumption patterns, then we will not meet
the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting warming to 1.5℃.

 

AT Kearney, a global consultancy firm, projects that cultivated meat's market
share will reach 35% by 2040. This combined with the Good Food Institute's
estimate that a US $1.8 trillion investment will be required to produce just
10% of the world's protein using this technology, means that we are on the
cusp of a multi-decade flow of capital to build out manufacturing facilities.
Funding in the field of cellular agriculture is accelerating, however, still,
less than US$ 5 billion has been invested worldwide since the industry's
inception in 2016.

 

For further information please contact:

 Agronomics           Beaumont              Canaccord Genuity Limited       Cenkos                Peterhouse Capital    SEC Newgate

 Limited              Cornish Limited                                       Securities Plc        Limited
 The Company          Nomad                 Joint Broker                    Joint Broker          Joint Broker          Public Relations
 Richard Reed         Roland Cornish        Andrew Potts                    Giles Balleny         Lucy Williams         Bob Huxford

 Denham Eke           James Biddle          Harry Rees                      Michael Johnson       Charles Goodfellow    George Esmond

                                            Alex Aylen (Head of Equities)                                               Anthony Hughes

                                                                                                                        Alice Cho
 +44 (0) 1624 639396  +44 (0) 207 628 3396  +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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