TIDMANIC
RNS Number : 8330U
Agronomics Limited
08 April 2021
8 April 2021
Agronomics Limited
("Agronomics" or the "Company")
Investee Company Update: Solar Foods receives EUR10 million
capital loan from Finnish Climate Fund to build a new demonstration
facility
Agronomics, the leading listed alternative proteins company with
a focus on cellular agriculture and cultivated meat, is pleased to
announce portfolio company Solar Foods Oy ("Solar Foods") has
received a EUR10 million capital loan from the Finnish Climate Fund
to build a new demonstration facility in Finland. Agronomics
currently has a 5.35% equity interest (on a fully diluted basis) in
Solar Foods following a EUR3 million investment in September
2020.
The full announcement is set out below with no material changes
or adjustments:
Finnish Climate Fund's first investment target Solar Foods
strives to achieve significant emissions reductions in food
production
The Finnish Climate Fund has decided on a 10 million euro
capital loan for Solar Foods to build a new demonstration factory
in Finland. The factory will be globally the first industrial scale
facility to produce protein from carbon dioxide and electricity.
The new factory is set to be operational early 2023.
Born out of joint research by VTT Technical Research Centre of
Finland and LUT University, the innovation by Solar Foods enables
low-emissions protein production utilising renewable energy.
According to Pasi Vainikka, the CEO of Solar Foods, "what sounded a
few years ago like science fiction is now tested in a continuous
mode. Solein protein has proven its qualities as a food product and
will proceed towards the shelves of our markets with the Climate
Fund's participation".
The CEO of the Climate Fund, Paula Laine , is pleased with the
cooperation with Solar Foods. "The mission of the Climate Fund is
to boost significant climate solutions into an industrial scale so
that participate in supporting the carbon neutrality targets of the
EU and Finland. By taking part in the investment, we'll enable
Solar Foods' factory sooner and thus opening a faster path to
emissions reductions."
The emissions reduction potential for Solein is up to 99 %
compared to meat production and 80 % compared to plant-based
proteins. As the annual global CO2 emissions from food production
are approximately 15bn tons, Solar Foods' innovation could at best
bring an annual reduction potential of tens of millions of
tonnes.
"Having the Climate Fund join Solar Foods will speed up the
building of the world's first industrial scale factory. Financing
is an important part of realising Solar Foods' strategy - our goal
is to be the global leader on producing carbon neutral protein",
the Chairman of the Board of Solar Foods and a partner of Lifeline
Ventures, Juha Lindfors, states.
Solein(R) protein:
The production process of the protein is based on a patented
natural fermentation that can grow on a mineral platform using
carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
Its production process does not involve irrigation, pesticides,
fertilisers nor is it connected to climate conditions.
In addition to its climate-friendliness, the solution has good
nutritional values and can be used in diverse food products.
Additional information:
Saara Mattero, Communications Director the Finnish Climate Fund
tel. 0400 114 777, saara.mattero@ilmastorahasto.fi
Pasi Vainikka, D.Sc. (Tech) CEO Solar Foods Ltd, tel. +358 40
5825 987, pasi@solarfoods.fi
The Finnish Climate Fund is a Finnish state-owned
special-assignment company. Its operations focus on combating
climate change, boosting low-carbon industry and promoting
digitalisation. The Climate Fund invests in large-scale projects in
which the fund's investment is crucial to enable the project's
realisation in the first place, on a larger scale or earlier than
it would with funding from elsewhere.
Solar Foods produces protein using air and electricity. Solar
Foods revolutionises food production with a method that is not
dependent on agriculture, the weather, or the climate. The company
was founded in Espoo, Finland, in 2017 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 the LUT University. www.solarfoods.fi
About Agronomics
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/ .
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 70 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
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Richard Reed Roland Cornish Giles Balleny Lucy Williams Ed Orlebar
Denham Eke James Biddle Nick Searle Charles Goodfellow Joe McGregor
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+44 (0) 20 7930 0777
+44 (0) 7738 724 630
+44 (0) 1624 639396 agronomics@tbcardew.co
info@agronomics.im +44 (0) 207 628 3396 +44 (0) 207 397 8900 +44 (0) 207 469 0936 m
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