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DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN / ACCESSWIRE / April 26, 2024 / 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."
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.