TIDMANIC
RNS Number : 6482P
Agronomics Limited
20 October 2021
20th October 2021
Agronomics Limited
("Agronomics" or the "Company")
Agronomics Leads US$ 4 Million Seed Funding Round for California
Cultured
Agronomics, the leading listed company focused on the field of
cellular agriculture, is pleased to announce it has led a Seed
Funding Round for with a US$ 2.2 million investment (the
"Subscription") for California Cultured Inc. ("California
Cultured"). The financing is in the form of a SAFER ("Simple
Agreement for Future Equity"). Joining the round includes global
venture firm SOSV's IndieBio.
The SAFER is expected to convert into Preferred Stock of
California Cultured at a future equity financing round by
California Cultured of at least US$ 4 million. Following an
approximate equity ownership of 18.33 per cent on a fully diluted
basis. Following the close of the round, Agronomics will have the
right to a directorship in California Cultured. Should California
Cultured not complete a qualifying financing within 12 months the
SAFER will automatically convert into equity.
California Cultured is a food-tech company based in Davis,
California, U.S., which harnesses cell culture technology to
produce cocoa products. The application of cellular agriculture for
the production of plants or plant-derived ingredients has to date
not been extensively commercialised. Using cocoa cell cultures to
produce valuable cocoa products, such as cocoa powder, chocolate,
cocoa butter and flavanols is considered an exciting
opportunity.
Founded by cell-culture technology veterans Alan Perlstein and
Harrison Yoon, California Cultured was born out of the tension
between the huge market demand for chocolate and the need for more
ethical and environmentally friendly methods of production.
Approximately 70% of the world's cocoa supply currently comes from
Western Africa ( NJAS ) - specifically Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire,
where according to World Cocoa Foundation, there are concerns over
deforestation. The leadership team is rounded out by Head of
Commercial Steve Stearns, former chef at Noma, one of the world's
number one restaurants, and COO Debbie Neumann.
Jim Mellon, Non-executive Director of Agronomics commented:-
"Agronomics are pleased to join California Cultured on their
path to commercialise synthetic cocoa products without impeding on
the natural environment. Their technology should support
stabilising production of cocoa in the future, and has the
potential to enable future chocolate demand to be met."
Alan Perlstein, CEO and co-founder of California Cultured,
added:-
"Agronomics' network of resources within biotech along with our
mutual interest of radically transforming food and agriculture made
them an easy choice as an investor and strategic partner. With
Agronomics and our other investors behind us, we are well on our
way to changing the way we eat chocolate."
Po Bronson, Managing Director of SOSV's IndieBio, added:-
"California Cultured's chocolate tastes absolutely amazing. The
cacao cells are grown in the lab very economically, and then
they're made into chocolate in traditional methods. Startups are
attacking chocolate's dark secrets a number of ways, from upcycling
ag wastes to using precision fermentation for flavours. But only
cell-based chocolate is true, premium chocolate."
About California Cultured
"California Cultured is making a more sustainable and ethical
chocolate with their cell-culture technology. By creating an
incredible-tasting chocolate that is free from deforestation and
slave labour, California Cultured will be the future of chocolate
and will give chocolate a future." Visit cacultured.com for more
information.
About Agronomics
Agronomics is a leading listed alternative proteins company with
a focus on cellular agriculture. The Company has established a
portfolio of 15 companies from the Pre-Seed to Series B stage 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/ .
About Cellular Agriculture
Cellular Agriculture is the production of agriculture products
directly from cells, as opposed to raising an animal for slaughter,
or growing crops. This encompasses cell culture to produce
cultivated meat and materials, and fermentation processes that
harness a combination of molecular biology, synthetic biology,
tissue engineering and biotechnology to massively simplify
production methods in a sustainable manner.
Over the coming decades, the source of the world's food supply
traditionally derived from conventional agriculture is going to
change dramatically. We have already witnessed the first wave of
this shift with the consumer adoption of plant-based alternative
proteins but today, we are on the cusp of an even bigger wave of
change. This is being facilitated by advances in cellular
agriculture. This change is necessary, given scientists claims that
if we maintain existing animal protein consumption patterns, then
we will not meet the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting warming to
1.5
AT Kearney, a global consultancy firm, projects that cultivated
meat's market share will reach 35% by 2040. This combined with the
Good Food Institute's estimate that a US $1.8 trillion investment
will be required in order to produce just 10% of the world's
protein using this technology, means that we are on the cusp of a
multi-decade flow of capital to build out manufacturing facilities.
Funding in the field of cellular agriculture is accelerating,
however still less than US$ 1 billion has been invested worldwide
since the industry's inception in 2016.
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
Limited Cornish Limited Securities Capital TB Cardew
Plc Limited
The Company Nomad Joint Broker Joint Broker Public Relations
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Richard Reed Roland Cornish Giles Balleny Lucy Williams Ed Orlebar
Denham Eke James Biddle Michael Johnson Charles Goodfellow Joe McGregor
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+44 (0) 20 7930
0777
+44 (0) 1624 +44 (0) 7738
639396 +44 (0) 207 +44 (0) 207 +44 (0) 207 724 630
info@agronomics.im 628 3396 397 8900 469 0936 agronomics@tbcardew.com
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