18 July 2024
Agronomics 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
("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
(31/03/2024),
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
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/.
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
Denham
Eke
|
Roland
Cornish
James
Biddle
|
Andrew
Potts
Harry
Pardoe
Alex
Aylen (Head of Equities)
|
Giles
Balleny
Michael
Johnson
|
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
|
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.