26 April 2024
Agronomics Limited
("Agronomics" or the
"Company")
Solar Foods Raises an
Additional EUR8 Million in New Financing
Agronomics (LSE:ANIC), a leading
listed company focused on the field of cellular agriculture, is
pleased to announce that portfolio company Solar Foods Oy ("Solar
Foods") has raised an additional EUR8 million in funding via
Finnish investment organiser Springvest Oyj.
This additional funding is a
subsequent close to Solar Food's Series B round which took place
in
November 2023, bringing the total raise
to EUR16 million. Solar Foods' first commercial-scale factory,
named Factory 01, has been fully operational since April this year
and is expected to produce 160 tons of Solein™ annually. Solar
Foods has already achieved regulatory approval for Solein™ in
Singapore and is currently in partnership with the Finnish food
company, Oy Karl Fazer AB, which is incorporating Solein into a
chocolate snack. Solar Foods has also submitted a dossier to the
European Food Safety Authority and is in conversations with
multiple potential customers for the integration of Solein™ into
existing product lines.
To date, Agronomics has invested
EUR6 million in Solar Foods. As disclosed in Agronomics'
Unaudited
Interim Results, this position is
currently carried at a book value of £11.4 million, including an
uplift of £6.3 million. This subsequent raise remained on the same
terms as those set in November and there is no change to the value
of Agronomics position.
Agronomics' Executive Chair, Jim
Mellon commented:
"Solar Foods has shown impressive execution with the funds
they have raised to date. It is one of the few companies in this
field with a wholly owned and fully operational factory and
regulatory approval which puts Solar Foods as one of the most
advanced cell ag companies globally. We are very much looking
forward to seeing product sales begin in Singapore and for
regulatory approval in Europe."
About Solar Foods
Solar Foods produces protein using
carbon dioxide and electricity. Solein™ production, irrespective of weather and climate conditions,
liberates global protein production from the constraints of
traditional agriculture. Solar Foods, founded in 2017 in Espoo,
Finland by Dr Pasi Vainikka, Dr Juha-Pekka Pitkänen, Sami
Holmström, Jari Tuovinen, Professor Jero Ahola, and Janne Mäkelä as
a spinoff from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and LUT
University. www.solarfoods.com.
About Solein™
Solein™ is a
microbial protein-rich powder that contains all the essential amino
acids. It is produced using a bioprocess where microbes are fed
with gases, including carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and oxygen,
together with small amounts of nutrients. The bioprocess resembles
winemaking, with carbon dioxide and hydrogen replacing sugar as the
source of carbon and energy.
This type of production method has
the potential to transform the sustainability, availability, and
transparency of what we eat and where food can be produced. It is
not reliant on agriculture, weather, or climate: it can be produced
in harsh conditions such as deserts, Arctic areas, even space.
Learn more about Solein™ at
www.solein.com.
About Agronomics
Agronomics is a leading listed
alternative proteins company with a focus on cellular agriculture
including precision fermentation and cultivated meat. The Company
has established a portfolio of over 20 companies 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. A full
list of Agronomics' portfolio companies is available at
https://agronomics.im/.
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INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU No.
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For further information please
contact:
Agronomics
Limited
|
Beaumont
Cornish
Limited
|
Canaccord Genuity
Limited
|
Cavendish Capital Markets
Limited
|
Peterhouse
Capital
Limited
|
SEC Newgate
|
The
Company
|
Nomad
|
Joint
Broker
|
Joint
Broker
|
Joint
Broker
|
Public
Relations
|
Jim
Mellon
Denham
Eke
|
Roland
Cornish
James
Biddle
|
Andrew
Potts
Harry
Pardoe
Alex
Aylen
|
Giles
Balleny
Michael
Johnson
Charlie
Combe
|
Lucy
Williams
Charles
Goodfellow
|
Bob
Huxford
Anthony Hughes
|
+44 (0)
1624 639396
info@agronomics.im
|
+44 (0)
207 628 3396
|
+44 (0)
207 523 8000
|
+44 (0)
207 397 8900
|
+44 (0)
207 469 0936
|
agronomics@secnewgate.co.uk
|