REG - Agronomics Limited - Onego Bio Secures EUR 14 million in New Funding

AgronomicsAnnouncement

18/07/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 8443W  Agronomics Limited  18 July 2024

18 July 2024

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

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

 Onego Bio Secures EUR 14 million in New Funding

Agronomics (LSE: ANIC), a leading listed company in the field of cellular
agriculture, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Onego Bio Ltd
(https://www.onego.bio/) ("Onego") has secured EUR 14 million in new funding
from the European Innovation Council Accelerator Program and an additional
Series A investor. In April, Onego announced it closed EUR 37 million in its
series A round which, including this new capital, brings Onego's total funding
to date to EUR 65 million.

Agronomics has invested EUR 8.4 million into Onego since inception which,
subject to audit, is currently carried at GBP 11.1 million (EUR 12.9 million)
and will not change as a result of this fundraise. This position accounts for
approximately 6.7% of Agronomics' last published Net Asset Value (
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/agronomics/news/rns/story/rdjq53r)
31/03/2024
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/agronomics/news/rns/story/rdjq53r) )
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/agronomics/news/rns/story/rdjq53r) ,
including post-balance sheet adjustments. Agronomics has an equity ownership
of 16.1% on a fully diluted basis.

For a short video on Onego, please visit:
https://www.agronomics.im/news/onegobio
(https://www.agronomics.im/news/onegobio)

The full announcement is set out below without any material changes:

HELSINKI, FI, July 17, 2024 - Onego Bio, a leading precision fermentation
company, has secured €14M / $15.2M in new funding from the European
Innovation Council Accelerator Program and additional Series A investors. In
2024 Onego Bio has successfully raised €50.5M / $55M, bringing the company's
total funding to €65M / $70.8M.

 

Manufactured as an industrial food ingredient, Onego's Bioalbumen® is a
bio-identical egg protein with full functionality, perfect protein quality and
a neutral taste. Bioalbumen® offers a stable supply of egg protein while
having the potential to alleviate the environmental burden by ~90 %.

 

As a US-Finnish company, Onego is moving at full speed to commercialise in
North America, where the regulatory landscape allows a faster market entry.
The company is on track to submit a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) notice
to the FDA this year, with the hope of receiving a "no questions" letter from
the FDA in 2025. The newly gained EIC funding will fuel the company's
go-to-market plan both in the US and in the EU, including securing regulatory
approval from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

 

Maija Itkonen, CEO & co-founder of Onego Bio said:

 

"The new funding and immense support from our investors demonstrates their
confidence in our vision and the potential of innovations like Bioalbumen® to
build a more sustainable system. It also shows that the EU recognizes
precision fermentation as a solution to address sustainability issues and
enhance food security in Europe and worldwide. However, to remain competitive
and fully capture the potential of exceptional European research and
innovation, the regulatory approval process must be accelerated, as the EU
currently lags behind other regions in this area."

 

Onego Bio was selected for EIC funding from a highly competitive pool of 969
applicants, of which 347 companies were interviewed by juries of experienced
investors and entrepreneurs, with only the top 68 receiving funding. EIC
Accelerator selects startups or SMEs with a high-impact product, service, or
business model that demonstrates the potential to scale up, create new markets
or disrupt existing ones in Europe and even worldwide. In the 2024 work
program, EIC has identified precision fermentation as an area where
breakthrough technologies or game-changing innovations can have a major
impact. Precision fermentation can improve the sustainability, efficiency, and
resilience of European food supply chains by decoupling food production from
the soil and minimizing its environmental impact.

About Agronomics

Agronomics is a leading London-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 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/) .

For further information please contact:

 

 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

 

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.

 

 

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