REG - Agronomics Limited - Formo Secures a €35 million loan

AgronomicsAnnouncement

21/01/2025 16:45

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250121:nRSU1735Ua&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 1735U  Agronomics Limited  21 January 2025

 

Agronomics Limited

21 January 2025

  (https://agronomics.im/) Agronomics (https://agronomics.im/)  Limited

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

Formo Secures a €35 million loan from the European Investment Bank

Agronomics (LSE: ANIC), a leading listed company in the field of cellular
agriculture, is pleased to report that its portfolio company, Formo Bio GmbH,
("Formo"), has secured a €35 million loan from the European Investment Bank
("EIB").

The EIB loan is part of an initiative aimed at investing over €370 billion
in new technologies by 2027 with the aim of supporting European companies
developing innovative products in nascent, transformative markets.

Founded in Berlin in 2019, Formo specialises in utilising two technologies in
its production of cellular agriculture products. The first is
micro-fermentation, in which naturally occurring micro-organisms such as
Formo's Koji mushrooms are used to produce proteins without modifying the
micro-organism itself. Koji proteins are excellent for producing cheese
without using animal products. Its work has also enabled Formo to develop
bioidentical milk proteins, particularly caseins with good melting properties.
Traditional fermentation is combined with the latest biotechnologies to
produce caseins efficiently and on an industrial scale.

The €35 million loan follows the US$ 61 million in Series B funding that
Formo secured in September 2024 - the third largest raise by an alternative
protein startup last year - bringing Formo's total financing to over €135
million to date. The additional funds will be used to scale up manufacturing
of its Koji protein cheeses and develop new products through its micro
fermentation platform, in addition to securing regulatory clearance for its
precision-fermented casein in the US and the EU.

Formo is already delivering key products to supermarket shelves across the
continent. To date, it has launched its micro-fermentation product line, with
several flavours of the cream cheese alternative Frischhain distributed to
more than 2,000 METRO and REWE supermarkets in Germany and Austria since
September 2024. Other cheese alternatives - from Greek feta to white and blue
cheese, and an egg substitute for scrambled eggs and baked goods - are
currently in the scaling process and preparing to be launched on the market.
 

Agronomics has invested €4.4 million in Formo, including the first
investment in December 2019 when Agronomics co-led Formo's Seed round
with M Ventures. The carrying value of Agronomics' position is £9.3 million
accounting for approximately 5.8% of Agronomics' last stated Net Asset Value
as at 30
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/agronomics/news/rns/story/ryne27w) (th
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/agronomics/news/rns/story/ryne27w) )
September 2024
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/agronomics/news/rns/story/ryne27w) .
Agronomics holds an equity stake of 4.5% on a fully diluted basis.

Jim Mellon, Executive Chair of Agronomics, said: "Formo is leading the charge
in the global transition towards animal-free proteins, with several popular
products already serving a substantial area of the European market. The
significant backing from the European Investment Bank is a testament to the
quality of Formo's products, its commercial roadmap and its success to date.
In addition, it will provide further financial resources to help Formo launch
new products and continue to scale and expand its product offering across the
rest of the continent - helping to bring ethical and sustainable agricultural
products to millions more people."

About Formo

Formo is an innovative European fermentation startup that is redefining the
future of cheese. Founded in 2019 with locations in Berlin and Frankfurt,
Formo develops animal-free alternatives that combine taste and sustainability.
Using state-of-the-art fermentation technology, Formo creates cheese
alternatives that taste great and contribute positively to the environment.
Learn more at https://formo.bio/ (https://formo.bio/) .

About Agronomics

Agronomics is a leading London-listed company focussing on investment
opportunities within the field of clean food. 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 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 and
improve food security for the world's expanding population. A full list of
Agronomics' portfolio companies is available at https://agronomics.im/
(https://agronomics.im/) .

 

 Agronomics Limited                               Beaumont Cornish Limited  Canaccord Genuity Limited        Cavendish Securities Plc  Peterhouse Capital Limited  SEC Newgate
 The Company                                      Nomad                     Joint Broker                     Joint Broker              Joint Broker                Public Relations
 Jim Mellon                                       Roland Cornish            Andrew Potts                     Giles Balleny             Lucy Williams               Bob Huxford

 Denham Eke                                       James Biddle              Harry Pardoe                     Michael Johnson           Charles Goodfellow          Anthony Hughes

                                                                            Alex Aylen (Head of Equities)
 +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 (mailto:info@agronomics.im)

 

Nominated Adviser

Beaumont Cornish Limited ("Beaumont Cornish") is the Company's Nominated
Adviser and is authorised and regulated by the FCA. Beaumont Cornish's
responsibilities as the Company's Nominated Adviser, including a
responsibility to advise and guide the Company on its responsibilities under
the AIM Rules for Companies and AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers, are owed
solely to the London Stock Exchange. Beaumont Cornish is not acting for and
will not be responsible to any other persons for providing protections
afforded to customers of Beaumont Cornish nor for advising them in relation to
the proposed arrangements described in this announcement or any matter
referred to in it.

 

END

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  UPDBBMFTMTJTBMA