REG - Agronomics Limited - Investee Company Update: LIVEKINDLY Fundraise

AgronomicsAnnouncement

30/03/2021 07:00

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RNS Number : 8666T  Agronomics Limited  30 March 2021

30(th) March 2021

 

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

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

Investee Company Update: LIVEKINDLY Collective $335 Million Series B Fundraise

 

Agronomics, the leading listed alternative proteins company with a focus on
cellular agriculture and cultivated meat, is pleased to announce portfolio
company LIVEKINDLY Collective ("LIVEKINDLY") has closed a US$ 335 million
funding round, inclusive of the US$ 135 million convertible loan note raised
and announced in October 2020.

Agronomics invested US$ 3 million in February 2020 and subject to audit, will
now carry this position in its accounts at a book value of US$ 5.55 million.
This represents a gain on cost of US$ 2.55 million and an IRR of 73%.

The full announcement is set out below with no material changes or
adjustments:

LIVEKINDLY Collective Raises $335 Million to Accelerate Adoption of
Plant-Based Living and Sustainability in the Global Food System

 

Funding Round Led by The Rise Fund and Joined by Rabo Corporate Investments,
S2G Ventures, Existing and Additional Mission-Aligned Investors

 

Investment Brings Total Funding to More Than $535 Million in First 12 Months,
Making LIVEKINDLY Collective One of the Top Three Highest-Funded and
Fastest-Growing Plant-Based Food Companies

 

March 29, 2021

 

NEW YORK - LIVEKINDLY Collective, a collection of heritage and start-up brands
on track to become one of the world's largest plant-based food companies,
today announced a successful capital raise led by The Rise Fund, the global
impact investing platform managed by TPG. This round was joined by Rabo
Corporate Investments, the investment arm of Rabobank, investing again in this
round, S2G Ventures, and other existing and additional mission-aligned
investors.

 

This investment closes a growth funding round of $335 million, including $135
million converted from a prior round, bringing the total funds raised by
LIVEKINDLY Collective in its first year to $535 million. With this latest
investment, LIVEKINDLY Collective has become one of the top three
highest-funded and fastest-growing plant-based food companies globally.

 

"Our mission is to make plant-based living the new norm, creating a healthier,
more sustainable global food system through our international portfolio that
meets local tastes," said David Knopf, CFO of LIVEKINDLY Collective. "With the
close of this funding round, we are ideally positioned to rapidly scale our
model and lead the global consumer shift toward healthy, delicious and
sustainable plant-based alternatives."

 

The funding will be used to accelerate LIVEKINDLY Collective's expansion into
growth geographies, like the U.S. and China, and fuel its acquisitions, key
partnerships and investments in plant-based innovation.

"We are building a global pureplay in plant-based alternatives - which we
believe is the future of food," said Roger Lienhard, Founder and Executive
Chairman of Blue Horizon Group and Founder of LIVEKINDLY Collective. "In just
one year, we have raised a significant amount of capital, which testifies to
the urgency of our mission and the enormous investment opportunity it
represents. We believe the momentum behind plant-based living will continue to
grow in both the private and public markets."

 

The Rise Fund works with growth-stage, high-potential, mission-driven
companies seeking to generate meaningful returns while advancing progress
towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This investment in
LIVEKINDLY Collective is The Rise Fund's second major investment in the global
plantbased ecosystem. Steve Ellis, Co-Managing Partner of The Rise Fund, has
joined the LIVEKINDLY Collective Board of Directors, effective March 1, 2021.

 

 "We are excited to work with LIVEKINDLY Collective and its ecosystem of
innovative companies and world-class leaders to meet the growing global demand
for healthy, plant-based, clean-label options," said Ellis. "The company's
unique, mission-driven model operates across the entire value chain, from seed
to fork, to drive worldwide adoption of plant-based alternatives and create a
healthier planet for all."

LIVEKINDLY Collective has five companies under its umbrella and 470 employees
around the world. In addition to Ellis, the company has recently seated six
new directors, Suzy Amis Cameron, Barbara Kux, Shujun Li, Paul Polman, Walter
Robb and Gaby Sulzberger.

 

About LIVEKINDLY Collective

LIVEKINDLY Collective was founded by Blue Horizon Group on the belief that
plant-based alternatives have the power to make the global food system
sustainable. Its mission is to make plant-based living the new norm. As a
collective of founders, entrepreneurs and business leaders from across the
globe, LIVEKINDLY Collective is uniquely positioned to create impact with
speed, at scale. Through its portfolio of brands, Oumph!, The Fry Family Food
Co., LikeMeat and No Meat, LIVEKINDLY Collective is providing consumers around
the world with healthy, sustainable, delicious food options. Furthermore, the
company is the voice of the plant-based movement, communicating informative,
entertaining and inspiring content through its media and lifestyle platform,
LIVEKINDLY, at www.livekindly.com and @livekindlyco on Instagram. LIVEKINDLY
Collective has 470 employees and sells in more than 40 countries around the
world. To learn more, visit www.thelivekindlyco.com.

 

About The Rise Fund

The Rise Fund is the world's largest global impact platform committed to
achieving measurable, positive social and environmental outcomes alongside
competitive financial returns. With more than $5 billion in assets under
management across its platform, The Rise Fund works with growth-stage, high
potential, mission-driven companies that have the power to change the world.
Headquartered in San Francisco, The Rise Fund was founded in 2016 by TPG in
partnership with Bono and Jeff Skoll and offers deep expertise in business
solutions to help achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.
As part of TPG, The Rise Fund offers investment resources, business-building
skills, rigorous measurement and a global network to help portfolio companies
accelerate growth and impact. With the ability to invest across a wide variety
of sectors and countries at scale, The Rise Fund focuses on opportunities in
education, energy, food and agriculture, financial technology, healthcare and
technology. For more information, visit www.therisefund.com or @therisefund on
Instagram.

Contact Marta Tomczak media@livekindly.com

 

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

Agronomics is a leading listed alternative proteins company with a focus on
cellular agriculture and cultivated meat. The Company has established a
portfolio of 16 companies at the Seed to Series B stage in this rapidly
advancing sector. It seeks to secure a 5-10% initial ownership in 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. A full list of Agronomics' portfolio
companies is available at https://agronomics.im/ (https://agronomics.im/) .

 

 

 

About the Cultivated Meat Sector

Funding in the cultivated meat sector is growing rapidly with c US$ 170
million invested globally between 2016-2019 and over US$ 270 million raised in
2020 alone. Additional financings are anticipated as the capital requirements
of these companies grows to build out and scale up manufacturing facilities.
Currently it is estimated that there are 60 companies globally within the
sector. AT Kearney, a global consultancy, has predicted that Cultivated Meat's
market share of meat consumption will be 35% by 2040.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations
(EU) No. 596/2014 ('MAR'). Upon the publication of this announcement via a
Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information is now
considered to be in the public domain.

 

For further information please contact:

 

 Agronomics           Beaumont              Cenkos                Peterhouse Capital    TB Cardew

 Limited              Cornish Limited       Securities Plc        Limited
 The Company          Nomad                 Joint Broker          Joint Broker          Public Relations
 Richard Reed         Roland Cornish        Giles Balleny         Lucy Williams         Ed Orlebar

 Denham Eke           James Biddle          Nick Searle           Charles Goodfellow    Joe McGregor
 +44 (0) 1624 639396  +44 (0) 207 628 3396  +44 (0) 207 397 8900  +44 (0) 207 469 0936  +44 (0) 20 7930 0777

 info@agronomics.im                                                                     +44 (0) 7738 724 630

                                                                                        agronomics@tbcardew.com

 

 

 

 

 

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